


New Moon

by CoffeeDevil



Series: Lunar Cycle [2]
Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Explicit Sexual Content, M/M, Modern AU, Murder, Mystery, Supernatural Elements, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-10-09 00:51:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 78,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10400055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoffeeDevil/pseuds/CoffeeDevil
Summary: Ciel retires to the middle of nowhere for some peace and quiet. Trouble and a familiar vampire follow him.Sequel toFull Moon.





	1. Dark Reunion

A knock sounded on the front door. Ciel paused with a steaming mug halfway to his lips, cocking his head at the noise. He could be forgiven for not recognizing that particular sound as it had never happened before. The entire point of moving to the middle of nowhere was specifically _not_ to have visitors and in the six weeks he'd occupied his new home, he hadn't. Until now.

The knock repeated itself and curiosity pulled him to the heavy oak door, which he opened to find the last person he ever expected to see again.

"Hello," Sebastian Michaelis purred, voice exactly as smooth and rich as Ciel remembered. Brilliant noon sunlight spilled in around him, highlighting the soft fuzziness of his wool coat and glinting off his shiny black hair.

"No," Ciel stated simply, closing the door and throwing the latch for good measure.

"Ciel!" the surprised vampire called from the other side of the door.

Ciel squeezed his eyes closed and whispered, "Go away."

Sebastian pounded on the door. "Ciel? What's going on? I know it's been a while, but I thought we might catch up."

Ciel drew in a deep breath and marched to the living room where turned on music, cranking up the volume until he couldn't hear anything else. Hands shaking, he dropped onto the very edge of his sofa and stared hard at the floor. That had to have been a hallucination. It was the only explanation for what just happened. He hadn't spoken to Sebastian in fifty years and hadn't seen the man for almost twenty before that; there was simply no way he happened to stumble across Ciel in the middle of nowhere – and no reason he _would_. No, this was clearly Ciel's mind playing a cruel trick on him. He'd lost count of how many times he'd done a double-take over the years thinking he'd seen Sebastian only to be disappointed. That's all this was, just one more stop on the crazy train.

Nodding, the werewolf stood and crept back to the door to prove it to himself. He leaned his ear against the wood, listening to the silence on the other side. Carefully, he opened the door to see an empty porch. He sighed in relief … and a bit of disappointment. A small, childish part of him had hoped it would be true, that Sebastian had suddenly come to his senses and tracked him down to reconnect. He snorted and rolled his eyes, closing the door again and dragging back into the living room to flop down onto the couch.

_Yeah, right. He hasn't cared about you for the past fifty years and he won't the next fifty. The sooner you get that through your thick skull the better._ Ciel glared at the ceiling.

After not pouting for an exceptionally long time, the Were decided he needed a change of scenery and opted to drive the thirty minutes into town to buy dinner at the only restaurant for miles … only to find Sebastian staring at him from across the room.

Ciel hesitated in the doorway, weight on one heel, prepared to turn right back around and drive home. Eventually hunger won out and he came inside the big faux hunting lodge, pointedly turning his back to the mirage and sitting at the bar. He ordered his usual from the cheerful blonde bartender and glanced around, careful not to look anywhere near faux-Sebastian. He exchanged friendly nods with the burly men seated at the other end of the bar; Ciel didn't know most of their names, but he'd seen them here before and knew they were Weres. Some unfamiliar hikers shared a table behind them and a vaguely-familiar Chinese man wearing a brightly colored silk shirt occupied the booth in the corner. Old flat screen TVs adorned the wooden walls, playing muted sports matches. The honey-golden wood of the bar was thick and warm, lacquered within an inch of its life; Ciel ran his fingers back and forth over it appreciatively as he waited for Lizzy to bring his food.

"Hello," that stupidly attractive voice purred in his ear. Ciel stiffened but didn't respond. "I couldn't help but notice you seem to be ignoring me."

"Some people would take that as a hint," he muttered.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Ciel turned to look at Sebastian, shooting daggers with his eyes. "No, I clearly do _not_ want to talk about it. Piss off," he hissed, trying not to attract attention.

Sebastian's eyebrows rose. "What have I done to merit this kind of welcome?"

If looks could kill, Sebastian would have been staked, revived, and staked again. "You know perfectly well what you've done. Besides, not everything's about you." Ciel swiveled to face dead ahead and clamped his lips shut. He accepted his steak and fries with a polite nod of his head and set to eating, clearly done talking. The vampire examined him curiously in his periphery and Ciel pointedly ignored him. He could practically hear the gears turning in the creature's head but Sebastian let him eat in silence, so he ignored it. Polishing off the last of his beer, Ciel tucked some cash under his plate and spun on his stool, preparing to leave. A large hand caught his wrist, dragging him to a sudden stop.

"Wait."

Ciel gasped at the touch, tugging his arm out of reflex to feel the solid fingers wrapped around it. "You're real," he breathed, blue eyes darting up to examine Sebastian's red.

The vampire tilted his head curiously. "Of course I'm real."

"And you're here?"

A smirk spread across Sebastian's face. "Obviously. What, did you think I was a figment of your imagination? I'm flattered."

Ciel frowned. "Go away." He tugged at his arm, this time trying to pull away.

Sebastian's face fell. "Wait," he said again.

"No."

"I just want to talk."

"I don't." Ciel gave up on freeing his wrist and stood, making the vampire release him or risk breaking it.

Sebastian rose to his feet as well. "Please? I missed you."

Ciel's brows drew together even further if that was possible. He used his newly freed hand to jab Sebastian's chest as he spoke. "Not enough to visit. Or write. Or ever check up on me. I haven't heard one peep out of you in half a century and now you 'miss' me? I don't think so." With a final glare, he stomped toward the door and pushed his way outside. The frigid air hit him like a wall after being inside the toasty restaurant for so long.

"You told me not to follow you," Sebastian protested, trailing right behind him. They crunched through the snow of the dark parking lot, squares of golden light spilling out the building's windows to light random patches. "I was in Italy. You stopped calling me. I thought you were dead! What was I supposed to do?"

Ciel paused with his hand on the door of his old truck. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing," he muttered, not turning around. "Just leave me alone."

"Ciel…"

He didn't hear the rest. Ciel climbed into the cab and slammed his door shut with a satisfying _bang_ , cutting off the sound of Sebastian's voice. He revved the engine to life and peeled out as fast as he dared on the icy road. The Were beat the heel of his right hand against the dash in frustration. _That absolute BASTARD. Why did he have to show up now?_ Ciel huffed in irritation and gripped the wheel so tightly his knuckles went white with pressure. Yes, he did tell Sebastian not to follow him to the queen all those years ago. No, that did not mean "never, ever come see me again." He had tried so many times to entice Sebastian to visit. He told him all about his planned vacations, various new homes, and how much he wished he had someone to share them with. In response he had gotten nothing. No offers to join him, no surprise visits, no invitations to go see Sebastian, _nothing_. It was like the vampire had been completely uninterested. Ciel had stopped calling just to see how long it would take him to call back and it turned out the answer was never. So he let it go.

It had been hard to move on. _So hard_. Ciel had spent the better part of twenty years trying to entice the man back followed by fifty trying to forget him. He'd dated a bit, yeah, but immortality really sticks a thorn in that balloon. The first big stinger was when his partners realized he wasn't growing older. The second was trying to date people his own age when he looked like their grandchildren. At least he'd never fallen in love and had to watch them age and die without him. In the end, Ciel had resigned himself to a life of solitude.

And then that asshole showed back up.

Ciel slammed his truck into park in front of his cabin and rested his head on the steering wheel to collect his thoughts. He hadn't completely snapped and hallucinated Sebastian after all, which was good. In fact, his inner romantic cheered wildly at the fact that Sebastian had finally tracked him down, but the rest of him balked, years of hurt and rejection welling up like a scab had been picked off. He genuinely did not know what to do.

Ciel stomped up the dark walk, irrationally angry at himself for not turning a light on before he left. He slapped on the light as soon as he was inside, not bothering to transform his eyes for night vision, and flung his coat, gloves, and boots into a wet pile on the floor to deal with later. He breathed out a sigh, forcibly relaxing the tension in his shoulders and trying to slow his heartrate. He could deal with this. He would figure it all out. What he needed now was a warm bath and good night of sleep –

"Oh, fuck no." The words fell out of his mouth of their own accord as soon as he set foot into the living room, self-imposed calm shattering.

"I'm beginning to think that word has taken over your vocabulary," Sebastian teased from the sofa. He sat dead center, arms stretched out across the back, long legs attractively crossed at the knee.

"Fuck. You," Ciel said with deliberate slowness, jabbing a finger toward the vampire. "Get out of my house."

"Not until you tell me why you're acting like this."

Ciel glared, frozen to the spot as his mind churned. He didn't know if he should run away, shout in Sebastian's face, or just punch the smug bastard until he felt better. None of it seemed like it would have any effect. He vaguely remembered this feeling of helpless frustration from a long time ago and didn't like it any better now than he had then. Gritting his teeth, Ciel folded his arms and ground out, "Well, right now I'm pissed off because you broke into my house _like a psycho_ and won't leave."

Sebastian quirked a brow. "And before?"

Ciel's brows pulled together. "Do you mean when you kept badgering me after my first three rounds of 'fuck off' or when you barged back into my life after ignoring me for decades? You made it abundantly clear that you want nothing to do with me and the feeling is mutual, so just get out. I'm not in the mood for whatever game you're playing."

Sebastian sat up straighter, dropping his arms to his sides. "Ciel, I never meant to make you feel like I didn't care about you. I was trying to give you space."

"Seventy _years_ of it? Don't bother. I remember you well enough to know that you only do things you find entertaining. There's no way you would have abandoned me if you weren't bored."

Sebastian flinched at the word _abandoned_ and stood, taking a careful step forward. "You never bored me."

A small growl bubbled up Ciel's throat, warning the vampire not to come any closer.

Sebastian paused, heeding the warning. The little Were clearly had his hackles up and there was no doubt in Sebastian's mind he would be an adorably puffed out cat. In human form, though, Ciel was dangerous. All it would take is a quick partial transformation and suddenly his teeth and claws would be capable of tearing into vampire flesh. It wouldn't be fatal (Ciel wasn't remotely fast or strong enough for _that_ ) but it would be unpleasant and such an escalation could ruin any chance they had of reconciliation. He had to be careful or risk driving Ciel away forever. "You never bored me," he insisted, lifting his hands placatingly when Ciel scoffed. "It's true. You are the most interesting person I have ever met – and that's saying something." Blue eyes rolled, clearly unimpressed. Sebastian continued doggedly on anyway. "Letting you leave was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but I did it because I respected you."

"And you never bothered to visit because…?"

Sebastian gave a self-deprecating laugh and looked down. "I wasn't sure I'd be able to leave again. You wanted to live your own life and I wouldn't have been able to let you go."

Ciel's gaze hardened. "So you were just avoiding temptation all this time? Poor, noble Sebastian, sacrificing himself for the good of everyone," he mocked.

Red eyes blazed, snapping up from the floor to burn into the Were. In an instant Sebastian stood so close their toes touched, looming over the shorter man. He could feel his own breath bouncing off Ciel's upturned face as he spoke. "I did it for you."

"Bullshit!" Ciel spat back, not retreating an inch. "I hate you."

"No you don't."

"I _hate_ you," he snarled more forcefully, slamming his hands into Sebastian's chest ineffectively. The vampire didn't so much as sway. Tears prickled in his eyes but he would be damned twice if he let Sebastian see them. "You ruined my life! You turned me into a freak and left like it was nothing. I just want to be alone." He made an ugly face and turned away, wrapping his arms around himself. "Leave."

Sebastian placed a hand on Ciel's shoulder, stubbornly gripping tighter when he tried to shake it off. "No. I'm never leaving you again. It was a mistake then and it would be a mistake now."

Ciel tensed, still facing away. "You do understand that I hate you, right?" He asked softly.

"I understand," Sebastian allowed. "But I'm not leaving."

Ciel snorted the tiniest of laughs, rolling his eyes and silently sniffing back tears. "It's not like I can stop you, can I?"

"Good of you to admit it. Saves us a lot of arguing."

Ciel honestly couldn't tell if he was joking or being serious, maybe both at the same time. Frustrating creature. He swiped at his leaking eyes. "Well, you're not sleeping here," he decreed haughtily in a bid to regain control.

"That's fine. I don't sleep."

Ciel's eyebrows rose at the admission. That was something he'd never realized and it was surprising enough to knock him out of his emotional funk. Half turning, he asked, "Really?"

A large grin spread across Sebastian's face at the Were's curiosity. "Really. Sleep is a biological function and I have no use for those, now do I?"

"I suppose not," Ciel muttered thoughtfully. It was interesting … but he was exhausted. Drop-down, drag-out pooped. Dealing with Sebastian had worn down the remainders of his energy and he knew nothing productive would be accomplished until he rested. "Well, I _do_ need it so I'll see you tomorrow. You know your way out." Without looking up, Ciel pushed past the vampire and closed himself in his bedroom. He made the mistake of sitting on the edge of his bed to roll off his socks and somehow found himself flat on his back, too wiped out to undress, much less shower.

The next thing he knew, morning light filtered in through the thin gingham curtains, making the wooden room glow dimly. Ciel found himself right where he passed out, legs hanging off the bed, arms folded on his stomach. He tilted his head back to look at the clock, frowned, and rolled over to read it properly. How in the world was past ten o'clock and why was he hanging off the end of his bed? He shook his sleep-muddled head and shuffled into the attached bathroom for a shower. All his best thinking seemed to happen there anyway.

Freshly scrubbed and dressed, his attention turned to his growling stomach; he was so hungry he could practically smell coffee and bacon. Licking his lips, he headed for the kitchen, steps slowing the closer he got. Scratch that – he actually _was_ smelling coffee and bacon. Eyes wide, he poked his head around the corner to see a tall, black-haired man moving freshly-cooked bacon onto a plate.

"Who – Sebastian?" he stammered as the figure turned. "What are you … ?" he trailed off inarticulately.

"Good morning, sleepyhead" the vampire practically chirped, eyes rounded into happy crescents. "I made you breakfast."

"Why are you here?" the Were asked suspiciously, sidestepping into the room.

"You did say we'd continue talking in the morning. I thought it would be nice to help out."

Ciel eyed him warily. "I don't remember saying anything of the sort."

Sebastian hummed, placing a finger to his lips thoughtfully. "Well, technically you said 'tomorrow' and we do have a lot to talk about, so this kills two birds with one stone, no?" Ciel pursed his lips, unconvinced. The vampire made a show of pouring coffee in a high arc to forestall any arguments. He deftly whipped in cream, sugar, and cocoa before extending it with a flourish. "Here, you do like extra-sweet mochas if I remember correctly."

Ciel seriously considered rejecting it just to spite Sebastian, but the thought of drinking plain black was too awful to consider at the moment. He took the damned coffee with a meaningless grunt and chugged it, willing the sugar and caffeine to turn his brain back on. He still didn't know what Sebastian was doing here but he did know he needed to be firing on all cylinders to deal with the crafty creature. Case in point: how easily Sebastian had just waylaid questions of his presence with the mere act of making coffee. Ciel's eyes narrowed. "Fine. Talk." He snatched the plate of bacon and moved to the table.

Sebastian hummed, buttering some toast and delivering it to the Were before sitting. "Last I heard, you were District Leader of the South East. What brought you up here?"

Ciel's lip curled in irritation. "That was fifty years ago," he snapped. _But mom, that was last year_ , his inner voice mocked him, making him wince at how juvenile he sounded. He cleared his throat and added more neutrally, "Most recently, I led the Special Investigations squad."

Sebastian's red eyes widened in curiosity. "That sounds interesting. What is it?"

Ciel waved a piece of toast as he explained, "Looking into the really abnormal pack reports. Mass murders, unexplained phenomena, encounters with other supernaturals. Honestly, most of them were hoaxes or sorry attempts to cover up petty crimes." With a fond smile, he noted, "It was fun, though."

"Was? Past tense?"

Ciel looked away and was silent for a long moment. "Yeah. I retired two months ago. Thought I was due for a change of scenery," he said stiffly. Ciel chomped into his bacon, waiting for Sebastian's next question. When nothing came, he looked up to find the vampire staring at him. A dull flush rose up his neck at the intense scrutiny. He cleared his throat and returned the question to break the silence. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

Sebastian smiled wide enough to show the points of his teeth. "A man's got to have some mystery."

The little werewolf blinked at him, waiting for a response that never came. "Seriously?" At the vampire's continued silence, he huffed, slumping back into his chair. "Fine, then. You were the one who wanted to talk," he grumbled, pulling out his tablet to scan the daily news – not that there was much news to be had this far out into the country. The local sources were all inundated with fishing, hunting, and hiking forecasts. There was a short blurb about someone getting an award for local cleanup efforts, but nothing important. He clicked it off before he could get sucked into international politics. Ciel had moved out here to avoid that mess and refused to watch it remotely.

"Haven't seen one of those in a while," Sebastian noted, gesturing to the shiny black tablet.

Ciel glanced at it briefly before shrugging. "It's what I'm used to. Still works just fine." He had an old-school smartphone, too, not that he was volunteering that information. All the new shit companies made now had too many bells and whistles and useless functions for him to keep up with. The benefit of country life was that everything seemed to move a bit slower, more like what he was used to.

"So, what does a young 'wolf like yourself do for entertainment out here?" Sebastian asked, clearly not planning to leave.

So many things about that sentence irked Ciel that he honestly didn't know where to start. "I'm not young _or_ a wolf and we're not friends. Piss off back to wherever you came from." He pushed back from the table with more force than strictly necessary and stormed toward the entryway. Sebastian may be here to stay, but that didn't mean Ciel had to spend every waking minute with him.

His nose crinkled in distaste when he found his outerwear still balled up in a wet mess where he had flung it last night. The cold and damp wouldn't harm him thanks to his animal spirit (and his annoying ongoing connection to he-who-shall-not-be-named in the kitchen), but he still didn't like it. Under normal circumstances, he would have spent the day curled up in front of a big fire writing in his journal or reading a novel. With Tall, Dark, and Annoying lurking around, though, he didn't want to cage himself up. He tugged everything on at record speed and was out the door before the vampire had time to follow. Vaguely guilty about being so crabby but pleased to be alone, Ciel tromped out into the snow. His cabin was only a five minute walk from the nearest nature trail and he intended to lose himself in it for a few hours.

The Were loped easily through the trees, footing steady on the familiar terrain. He had come this way frequently over the past few weeks and knew it well in both forms. Ciel breathed deeply, smelling the crisp wetness of winter and faint traces of wood smoke from the nearby houses. It was the ideal place to wipe his mind free of thoughts. Nothing mattered out here but nature. Birds chirped. Sunlight glistened off the snow. Wind rustled through pine needles. He was just one very small part of a very big world and that was the way he liked it.

Ciel walked for hours without tiring. By the time he returned to his cabin a smile had wormed its way over his face, though it wilted a bit as he realized the vampire was still there. His disappointment was somewhat waylaid by the large chocolate cake crowning the dining table like an edible jewel.

"Welcome back," Sebastian greeted from the recliner where he had helped himself to one of Ciel's spy novels. He folded the footrest down with a series of loud mechanical clunks.

Ciel held up a warding had, forestalling his approach. "What's the occasion?" he asked, flicking his eyes meaningfully toward the cake as he removed and properly hung up his outerwear this time.

"Your birthday."

Ciel blinked, brain stalling for a second before he half-asked, "Today's not my birthday?" At least, he was pretty sure it wasn't. Frowning, he pulled out his phone to check the date. February 10th – definitely not his birthday.

Sebastian shrugged. "Well, I wasn't here then, so happy belated birthday. Are you going to argue with free cake?"

Ciel wanted to (he really wanted to) but it was _cake_ , so he just shrugged and muttered, "Whatever," as he headed over to cut a piece. His mouth watered as he felt the moist layers give under his knife. The chocolate frosting smeared across his fingers as he shifted the slice onto his plate and he let out an embarrassingly pornographic moan when he licked it off. Face red, Ciel turned to glare defiantly at the eyes he felt on the back of his neck. "I realize we are in a literal cabin in the woods, but could you be a little less creepy, please?"

"Would you like me to leave you two alone?"

Ciel pointedly turned his back and sat in a chair facing the wall, effectively dismissing the vampire. It was truly unfair how easily the creature got under his skin.

"Don't be that way," Sebastian breathed against his neck. "I made you cake."

Ciel shivered but didn't give the other man the satisfaction of a response. He sat stick-straight and ate his cake one slow forkful at a time, eyes locked onto the wall. It really was ridiculously good cake if he were to be honest, not that he'd ever admit such a thing aloud. He tried not to be too obvious about scraping his plate clean and licking every last bit of it off his fork – which clattered out of his hand when a slick tongue ghosted up behind his ear.

"Mmm, delicious," the vampire purred. Large, black nailed hands splayed over his shoulders as cool lips skimmed up and down his throat. Sebastian's touch felt a thousand times better than he remembered it and Ciel let out a desperate, involuntary whine.

"Don't," he breathed, hands clenching into fists on his thighs. Breathing in ragged pants, he tilted his head to the side to bare his neck in a contradictory invitation. Chuckling, Sebastian continued. Licks turned into kisses, turned into sucks, turned into gentle nips that had Ciel writhing in his seat. One hand slid down to his sternum, feeling the frantic racing of the Were's excited heart; the other went up to grip his hair, pulling his head back so their eyes could meet.

"Do you really want me to stop?" Sebastian whispered, leaning so close their lips bumped together as he spoke. He searched Ciel's face intently with lidded eyes, thick black lashes fluttering as he fought not to close the gap between them until Ciel had answered.

Ciel tried to find something scathing and horrible to say to drive the vampire away, but he couldn't muster anything when Sebastian looked at him like that. Of course he didn't want to stop. He was mad as hell at the man for abandoning him but a large part of him was dancing with glee at his return. With a disgusted grunt, Ciel pressed up to slam their mouths together. Thank _God_ he was already sitting down because he had clearly forgotten what an earth-shattering experience getting kissed by this monster was. Sebastian's tongue was an entity unto itself. It fluttered and curled and danced around his mouth, teasing and engaging him while somehow also sucking the air right out of his lungs. Thankfully the angelic beast was aware of his effect on mere mortals and retreated to leave Ciel panting for air before he was in any real danger.

"There's no way you're human," Ciel huffed, eyes glazed and head resting on the back of the chair.

Sebastian looked down at him with a deadpan expression. "You don't say."

Ciel blinked up in silence for a second before realizing what had just come out of his mouth. He put both hands to his face to muffle his giggles and sat back up. "Sorry," he choked out between laughs, waving one hand blindly behind him in apology. "Forgot. Long time since I've done this with a non-human." He half-turned to find Sebastian smirking and leaning against the wall. The vampire reached out to cup Ciel's cheek fondly, making the Were's smile falter. "I'm still mad at you," he stated softly.

"I know, love." Sebastian ran his thumb across the younger man's cheek. "I'm just glad to be here with you again."

Ciel swallowed thickly, pulling away before he could voice any embarrassing emotions. "Tch. I'm still not that easy." He closed his eyes and prayed to anyone who would listen that Sebastian wouldn't press him on this because he knew it wasn't true anymore.

Mercifully, Sebastian retreated a step and smiled fondly. "And don't I know it."

"Ass," Ciel muttered without venom. Attempting to push the shattered pieces of his self-control into some semblance of order, he asked detachedly, "If you insist on staying, I trust you can make yourself useful and cook dinner?"

"But of course," Sebastian said with a bow. "Whatever my young master desires."

\---

"So, are you going to transform now or wait until later?"

"What?" Ciel looked up from his book at the sudden question. Dinner had come and gone uneventfully and the two had settled into a – if not comfortable, at least tolerant – silence hours ago with Ciel on one end of the long sofa and Sebastian the other.

Sebastian gestured out the window in explanation. They couldn't see the moon from this angle but its bright light shone down on the snow, making it glow blue. "Seriously?" Ciel scoffed, turning back to his book. "I'm not a child."

Sebastian tilted his head, scooting closer. "But, you are still a Were, right? Unless that's changed."

Ciel shook his head without looking up. "No, I'm still a Were, I just don't have to transform every month." The fact that he'd been having increasingly vivid daydreams about taking a walk that turned into a four-legged run had nothing to do with the matter.

Sebastian examined him curiously when he didn't continue. "Because of …?" He held up his star-marked hand.

The smaller man heaved a sigh and closed his book to repeat: "No, because _I'm not a child_." At Sebastian's obvious confusion, he let out a frustrated grunt. "Honestly, do you know anything about Weres at all?"

"I know that the full moon makes you transform," Sebastian replied stubbornly.

Ciel rolled his eyes. "Only until we learn to control it. Could you imagine the chaos if _every_ werewolf transformed _every_ full moon all at the same time whether they wanted to or not?"

Sebastian snickered. "I suppose that would be a mite problematic. So you don't do it at all anymore?"

Ciel looked pointedly back down at his book, flipping it open to a random page. In all truth, yes, he did usually transform during the full moon because it felt good. Just because he didn't _have_ to give in doesn't mean he didn't still feel the pull. "You have a strange cat fetish and just want to molest me," he accused lightly, eyes skimming over words without processing them. If the vampire weren't here, he would already be out roaming the forest in animal form. His spine itched with the desire to change and he rubbed it against the couch cushion.

Sebastian bared his teeth in a feral smile. "I can molest you in this form, too." Cool fingers ghosted up Ciel's ankle under the hem of his pants, making goosebumps rise.

The Were's eyes cut over sharply and he smacked the vampire's hand off with the spine of his book. "You're not getting into my pants tonight, so knock it off already." His quiet desperation from that afternoon had faded into steely resolve due to the fact that he _would_ transform if he relaxed his control right now and that would be … awkward during sex. He fidgeted and added 'inconvenient boner' to his list of current problems. He didn't want to be inside, he didn't want to fight off a flirty vampire, and he definitely didn't want to be trapped in human form, staring at a stupid book that made no sense.

"You're no fun," Sebastian pouted. "Why don't we play a game?"

"Why don't you buzz off?" Ciel muttered half-heartedly, tucking his foot under himself, eyes firmly locked onto his book as he struggled to concentrate. _What the hell is this stupid thing about, anyway?_ He redoubled his focus, staring hard at the nonsensical lines in an attempt to tune Sebastian out.

The vampire chuckled, undeterred. "I was thinking Hide and Seek."

Ciel looked up and regarded him thoughtfully for a few seconds before allowing, "Okay, go hide."

Sebastian _tsk_ ed. "We both know perfectly well why that won't work."

"It was worth a shot."

"I respect you for trying. Now you go hide."

"I never said I was going to play."

"You didn't have to." He gestured at Ciel's book. The little Were raised his brows challengingly as if to ask what was wrong with it. "It's upside down."

Ciel looked back down and let out a disgusted grunt, slamming the treacherous thing onto the coffee table as if it were the book's fault. "You're not going to leave me alone until I play with you, are you?"

"Maybe not even then," the vampire said truthfully.

Ciel groaned dramatically. "This is precisely why you have no friends."

Sebastian huffed in mock offence. "I'll have you know that I have plenty of friends."

"Sure you do. I bet they all like you as much as I do, too. What do I get out of this game, anyway?" Ciel asked, knowing full well that the creature would only annoy him by increasing degrees until he gave in. And it's not as if his book had been holding his attention in the first place, so whatever. Stupid book.

"Aside from the entertainment value?" Ciel nodded. "Would you like to set wagers?"

"What is the point of a game without risks and rewards?"

"Very well, my little lord. What would you like?"

Ciel eyed him. "You promise to uphold your end no matter how this game ends?"

"Of course," Sebastian promised, hand over his heart to convey his sincerity.

"Then if I win, you have to –" Ciel's throat closed unexpectedly. His first urge was to make Sebastian swear to leave and never come back but he hesitated, uncertain if that was really what he wanted anymore. Yesterday, he would have said it easily. Now, though, the thought of never seeing the vampire again made something deep inside his chest ache. Instead, he licked his lips and finished, "– have to follow my every order."

"I have to obey you forever?" Sebastian asked with a smile. Ciel nodded firmly. "You drive a hard bargain. I'll have to think of something equally demanding." He lapsed off into silence. Ciel kept his face blank but couldn't help fidgeting a bit as time dragged on. He became increasingly convinced Sebastian was going to ask for something sexual and struggled internally with whether or not he should reject it on principle. "If I win," Sebastian finally said, "you will stop pushing me away and try to let go of all this anger."

The Were blinked in surprise. _Oh._ He considered it for a second before pointing out, "That's not how forgiveness works. I can't instantly forget what you did and put everything back to the way it was."

"I didn't say you had to forgive me; just try not to hate me so much."

Ciel clenched his jaw, considering. It was a fair request. He could probably manage that – not that it mattered as he was absolutely _not_ going to lose. With a swift nod, he assented, "Fine. As for the terms: It would be no challenge at all for you to find me in this cabin, so you will give me a ten minute head start to hide myself in the woods. If you find me before dawn, you win. If I make it undiscovered, I win."

Sebastian hummed, leaning his chin on his fist. "That gives you quite the advantage, though, doesn't it? You could just run in a straight line until morning or bury yourself somewhere so deep I'll never find you." Ciel tilted his head in acknowledgement. Those were both actually pretty good ideas. "No, to even this up a bit, I think you should have to make it back into the house."

Ciel quirked a gray brow. "You think so, do you? Now who has the unfair advantage? You could just sit on the roof and wait for me to give myself away."

Sebastian smiled wide enough to show his overly-sharp canines, not at all embarrassed at getting called out. "Oh, that would be advantageous, wouldn't it?"

Ciel snorted. "You do have a point though. In the interest of _fairness_ , I'll need to physically touch anywhere on the cabin to win and you actually have to go out and search for me, not just lurk around waiting for me to turn up. If I catch you lurking, you lose automatically."

"Ten mile radius limit?" Sebastian suggested.

"Acceptable." Ciel wracked his brain for any other stipulations he wanted to add. "And you actually have to touch me to consider me found. You can't just wander around shouting 'found you.'" Sebastian looked mildly putout and Ciel gave an amused huff. "Honestly. You are the only person I know who can turn the rules for a children's game into the Magna Carta."

"I had help," Sebastian noted with a pointed look.

Ciel rubbed his tired eyes. "Why do I feel like we should print this out and sign it in blood?"

"Because you're not a very trusting person?" Sebastian suggested brightly.

Ciel snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure that's it." He shuffled over to the entryway and sat on the bench to pull on his boots. He zipped up his thinnest coat (he didn't really need it for warmth, but had discovered early on that passersby would flip their shit if they caught him outside without one on) and tugged on gloves. All completely unnecessary, as he fully intended to transform as soon as possible, but hopefully it would throw Sebastian off and keep him busy looking for a human. "Put on 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida' and start counting or something," he commanded as he walked out, breaking into a jog toward the trail he spent all day on. This time he went in the opposite direction, heading east instead of west. Hopefully the strong repeated sent to the west would match his fresh eastward scent enough to confuse Sebastian. If vampires even hunted by scent, that is. Ciel honestly had no idea how they worked, but it was worth a shot.

It took him five minutes to get to the trail – a little less since he jogged – so he ran for three more on the flatter, clearer ground before veering off sharply to one side. He trudge-skipped down a slight hill before launching himself into the air as far as he could and coming down on four legs. His new form was much different than the last one Sebastian had seen him in and he was counting on the vampire not recognizing it. Technically, Plan A was "not be seen," but "not get recognized" was a solid backup. He doubted the vampire expected him to transform at all. After all, Sebastian only knew him as a kitten, something that would have no business wading around in five inches of snow. Fortunately, his new form did not share that disadvantage.

Ciel made a careful, wide arc around his cabin away from the trail. This deep in the woods, he was surrounded by forest-dwelling animals. Rabbits, chipmunks, and a few foxes caught his nose making his belly twitch with primal hunt-kill-eat urges. Ciel shook his head, focusing on his goal of making it to the cabin and putting Sebastian in his place.

A fluffy, white-tailed bunny made the poor choice of running right in front of his nose, nearly triggering his urge to chase. It was saved by a clump of wet snow falling on Ciel's back. He jerked and twisted around to see what caused it, only to notice the treetops rustling as something large moved overhead. _So that's your strategy, huh? Stay up high and look for quick, human-shaped movements._ He chucked to himself, keeping low and moving slowly. It was almost too easy.

Or … was it?

The last thing Ciel remembered, he was hunkered down, creeping along, trying to stay close to trees and under bushes. Some stupid fucking squirrels were racing up and down a tree to his left and being a major distraction, but he did his best to tune them out. He could see the cabin in the distance, lights blazing. Ciel kept scanning the treetops so see if Sebastian was passing by, occasionally checking right and left in between bouts of scooting forward to make sure he wasn't breaking the No Lurking rule. All his muscles were tensed and he nearly jumped out of his skin when laughter rang out from far off to the right. His ears swiveled to listen and he deduced there must be some late-night hikers tromping around. _Let that keep you busy_ , he thought smugly to Sebastian. Ciel froze briefly, one foot raised, as he considered the possibility that the vampire might kill them before shaking it off. The man was kissing way too much ass to risk upsetting him by flinging bodies around willy-nilly. Reassured, he had just started forward again when he swore the same damn bunny ran right back under his nose – this time followed by a huge gray wolf.

The next thing he knew, sunlight was drilling into his eyes.

Ciel blinked and squinted, pushing himself to his feet and growling at his stiff muscles. What the hell had happened – oh, right. Wolf. He shook his head and snorted. He hated those things. They always wanted to fight. He looked around to find no traces of blood or dead animals near him, so he must have run away. Fortunately, he was still close to the house, so he trotted to the tree line before shifting back and walking the rest of the way in on two legs.

_BANG!_ The front door crashed open like a gunshot and Ciel was snatched up and crushed to a firm chest before he even saw Sebastian approach.

"Good morning to you, too," Ciel stated dryly, arms trapped down by his sides.

"I was so worried," the vampire said into his hair.

Ciel squirmed. "Chill _out_ , would you? And put me down this instant." He would have stomped his foot if it wasn't currently hovering six inches off the ground. Slowly, he was lowered until his toes touched down and he could take a careful step back on the icy walk. Large hands cupped his face, tilting it up to be examined by worried garnet eyes that lightened to startled ruby red as he watched.

"Ciel," Sebastian breathed, "your face …."

The Were frowned and reached a gloved hand up to feel it. Nothing hurt and everything seemed to be where it belonged. "I'm fine."

"It's covered in blood."

Ciel's eyes widened and he laughed in relief. "Oh! That's all? Yeah. I got into a fight with a wolf."

Sebastian breathed out a relieved sigh, shoulders relaxing. "I see. Well then." He looked Ciel over before snorting. "I honestly don't know what to say to that."

Ciel cracked a smile. "Werewolf problems. You get used to them."

Sebastian ran a hand through Ciel's hair where it snagged on some blood-crusted patches. He carefully extracted his fingers and suggested, "Why don't you go wash that off and I'll make you some food? I'm sure you must be starving."

Not really, but he supposed his stomach would disagree as soon as it smelled food so Ciel nodded. It also meant the vampire wouldn't be trying to squeeze his way into the shower with him, so win-win. Ciel made his way to the bathroom and flipped on the water to let it heat up before bothering to look in the mirror. Yep, blood was smeared all over his cheeks and chin. Maybe he had ended up eating the bunny after all. Gross. Ciel crinkled his nose in disgust and peeled off his gloves – pausing when he found his hands covered in blood as well. Weird, but not completely novel. Clothing disappears when a Were transforms and reappears when he shifts back so it wasn't the first time he found himself unexpectedly bloody underneath. His eyes widened as he continued to strip in front of the mirror; it was definitely the first time he'd found himself _this_ bloody, though. Good god, it was smeared all down his neck and chest like he'd _bathed_ in it or something. Maybe he ate the wolf, too.

Disgusted, he threw his clothes into a dirty pile of shame in the corner and left them to think about what they'd done as he meticulously scrubbed himself clean under the hot water.

He'd obviously been injured to make that much of a mess; there was no way all the blood could have come from a wolf, even if he had killed it. The downside to his near-instant healing was not being able to see where or how he had been hurt (not that he would ever wish that ability away), so he had to guess on a lot of things. Shrugging, he washed everything one last time and checked under his nails for blood before getting out. He half-expected Sebastian to be lurking with a towel, but the vampire was making a clear effort to give him space, which he had to grudgingly appreciate.

Ciel took his time drying and dressing. He felt almost human again after brushing his hair and gargling half a bottle of mouthwash. Finally, he ran out of things to stall with and made his way to the kitchen where Sebastian was gearing up to feed him and half of Africa.

"I didn't know what you wanted, so I made a little bit of everything," the tall man explained, gesturing to the numerous plates lining the counters like an overblown buffet. Everything from scrambled eggs to sausage to waffles was laid out before him and still steaming invitingly.

"Overachiever," Ciel grumbled, loading an empty plate with little pieces of each dish. "Where'd you even get some of this? I know I didn't have strawberries."

Sebastian shrugged, white hands wrapped around a steaming cup of black coffee. Ciel just rolled his eyes and let him have it. If keeping secrets about produce gave Sebastian his jollies, fine. He and his shadow migrated to the dining table where Sebastian produced a second mug of coffee seemingly out of thin air and extended it. Ciel accepted it cautiously. "What's with all this nice-nice?"

"I told you, I was worried." Sebastian ran his eyes over the little Were for the hundredth time as if reassuring himself that Ciel was still there.

"I was out of your sight for eight hours," he said incredulously. "You went decades without me; why did this flip the crazy switch?"

Sebastian gave an annoyed huff and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms and glaring down at the black star on the back of his left hand. "Well, excuse me for being concerned."

Blue eyes blinked at him curiously for a minute before widening in sudden understanding. "Your scar lit up, didn't it?"

The vampire hesitated, then nodded and answered quietly: "It was the brightest I've seen it since Grell broke your neck. I was afraid you were seriously injured and I couldn't find you." He indented his bottom lip with a fang. It was a strangely vulnerable gesture that made Ciel feel guilty for giving him such a hard time. It was clear that Sebastian had been really upset.

The Were cleared his throat and offered, "Yeah, well, wolves are assholes. I'll try not to let it happen again." He snagged his tablet, holding it higher than usual to block his face as he made a show of reading the news. He saw Sebastian relax out of the corner of his eye and Ciel smiled, then frowned. This was the same vampire who had dropped him like a hot potato after promising to help him and blew him off for the better part of a century before showing back up as if he expected Ciel to be sitting on his hands waiting for him. It was a pity Sebastian hadn't turned back up a few years ago when Ciel could have made a good show of shoving how busy he was in the creature's face. Now he just looked pathetic and lonely. Scratch that – he actually _was_ pathetic and lonely. He was glad Sebastian was finally back yet he also somehow hated it at the same time. Ciel grimaced, thoroughly conflicted.

"Something the matter?"

Ciel jerked up in his seat, glancing around the tablet and realizing he must have made a disgusted noise. "N-nothing. Just –" a blinking red update banner caught his attention, drawing his gaze back down to the news site. "There's a missing hiker," he read, as if that had been what he was thinking about. His eyes skimmed over the scrolling information, brows drawing together. "Daventry, I think that's near here," he murmured, trying to map it out in his head.

Sebastian hummed noncommittally. "That's too bad." He looked dispassionately out the window as if Ciel had just told him the temperature had dropped by one degree.

Ciel lowered his tablet to examine Sebastian, annoyed by his lack of caring. "Actually, I _know_ that's near here." The vampire blinked at him impassively, lifting a questioning hand at Ciel's challenging tone. "In fact, I think I might have even heard her last night." He pushed back from the table without waiting for a response and headed to the entryway, cursing when he remembered his boots were still in time-out in the bathroom. He retrieved the boots and jacket, both of which had been protected from his bloody skin by other clothes, and tugged them on quickly. He decided to forgo the gloves rather than root around for a spare pair. It's not like he could get frostbite, unlike the lost girl.

He was halfway down the front path when he noticed a large inkblot waiting for him by the tree line where he had emerged an hour ago. "I didn't take you for the search-and-rescue type."

Sebastian shrugged, turning to cut a path through the foliage when Ciel reached him. "I'm not really, but you are. I'm here in a strictly follow-and-observe capacity."

Ciel snorted and concentrated on remembering exactly where he had been when he heard laughter the previous night. He didn't see his footprints from earlier so the snow must have melted a bit, but he felt like they were going in the right direction. The way was much more cramped on two legs and he doubted it would be even this easy without Sebastian's larger form leading the way. "Thanks," he said automatically when Sebastian pulled back a tree branch for him – then paused. He stared at the vampire so long he was worried Sebastian might release the branch to knock some sense back into him before he shook his head and said, "Nevermind, we're still on the right path."

Dread began to pool in his belly as he followed Sebastian down a ravine, the vampire's footsteps quick and sure. Sebastian made an abrupt left, leading them up a steep incline to a raised trail and an unmistakable rusty scent. Despite the cold, Ciel could tell that a lot of blood had been spilled here, and recently. He thanked everything holy that he had grown out of his juvenile squeamishness because younger him would have immediately tossed his cookies at the sight of Betty Coleman's remains. The pretty face shown on the Times' emergency banner had been completely destroyed, bashed in beyond all recognition to create a soupy bowl of gore. Ciel only assumed it was her from her bright red jacket and curly black hair.

"Stop that!" he snapped at Sebastian, who was practically bent in half, leaning over the body for a closer look. The vampire gave him an amused look before straightening up. "Get away from her, idiot." Sebastian took one mocking step back with a flourish, clearly communicating that Ciel was being irrational but he was willing to humor him. "Irritating creature," Ciel grumbled. He pushed his hair back from his face and grimaced when the action reminded him that he wasn't wearing gloves. The Were took two steps closer, holding his breath as he leaned in. He couldn't make out much under the puffy red parka; its padding obscured any wounds on her torso and its color didn't help. There were dark blotches on the jacket and some rips but be couldn't tell if they were stab wounds or just evidence of a struggle. Ciel nudged her with a toe to get a better look and sucked in a quick breath when her head lolled to the side, eyes snapping up to his companion.

"What?" the vampire asked with innocent curiosity, as if he didn't already know.

Ciel returned his innocence insincerely, tone growing more and more dangerous as he spoke. "Why, just _look_ at those strange puncture marks on her neck. Do you have any idea _what they could possibly be_?"

The vampire's brows rose and he walked around to look from Ciel's angle, eyes snagging instantly on the problem. Two round holes dotted Betty's neck right over her jugular. "Ciel –"

The little Were shoved him, the unexpected force actually making Sebastian stumble back a step for once. "You _asshole_."

"Hold on a second –"

Ciel's fists clenched and his lips puckered with the sour taste in his mouth. "I can't believe I almost trusted you again."

"I didn't do this!" Sebastian shouted, pointing. "Those are way too far apart to be teeth and what possible motive would I have to beat her head in?"

"Why do you do anything?" Ciel snarled acidly. He stared Sebastian in the eye for an uncomfortably tense ten seconds before looking down to dig his phone out of his pocket. "Leave. I've got to call this in."

The taller man reached out, catching his forearm. "Please, look at me. _Believe me_. I didn't kill that girl. What can I do to prove it to you?"

Ciel paused, looking up into Sebastian's handsome, earnest face. "You'll do anything?"

"Anything at all," the vampire swore fervently.

"Tell me how you knew where her body was."


	2. The Usual Suspects

"Would you calm down?" the vampire demanded as he followed the fuming Were back through the woods. Ciel was stomping through the underbrush at a truly impressive pace. It wasn't difficult for Sebastian to keep up but it made talking all but impossible for Ciel.

"Would _you_ stop _lying?_ " Ciel muttered under his breath, huffing with exertion and fully aware Sebastian could hear him no matter how softly he spoke. His muscles burned with how hard he was pushing himself but he refused to slow his pace.

"I'm not lying! I simply went back to where I heard the hikers last night, same as you."

Ciel burst into the clearing around his cabin and fought the urge to double over and pant for breath. He was in shape but damn did trying to outrun a vampire take its toll. Too tired to keep walking, he turned to face Sebastian. "Why do people always die when you show up?"

"In case you've forgotten, I wasn't responsible last time, either," he snapped back. At Ciel's dirty look, Sebastian threw up his hands. "Why do I even bother?"

"That's what I keep asking," Ciel sighed, rubbing his face. "But you have to admit that girl dying with fang marks on her neck the day after you show up is suspicious as fuck."

"Says the man who disappeared all night next to the murder scene and came home covered in blood," Sebastian retorted, neatly turning it back around.

Ciel blinked stupidly. Put like that, he did seem to be the more likely suspect. Grimacing, he responded softly and much more calmly, "I told you it was a wolf."

"I believe you. And as I told you: I didn't kill her either."

The two regarded each other in careful silence for a minute before declaring a truce. "Fine, neither one of us did it," Ciel stated. "But someone did. Another vampire?"

Sebastian's stance relaxed minutely. "No. Like I said back at the body, those punctures weren't made by teeth. Not vampire teeth, anyway. They were much too far apart and perfectly round."

"Someone trying to emulate a vampire, then?" Ciel suggested.

"Possibly. Or it could just be coincidence altogether."

Ciel shrugged and turned toward the house. There was no point in standing around outside in the cold when they could be in front of a fire. "Someone is going to come by to take my statement since I called it in. You might want to stay out of sight."

"Concerned for my wellbeing?"

"Psh, concerned about my impending headache is more like it. With my size, no one would suspect I could have beaten her head in, so me finding her near my house is no big deal. You, however, are a different story. Even without being a vampire you probably could have managed it. I'm a concerned citizen; you're a suspect."

"Your concern touches me."

"Shut up and make me some hot chocolate before you hide in the coat closet."

Ciel flopped onto the couch with a frustrated sigh. "Blerg. It's like I'm back at work." Two months. He'd only made it two months without a dead body trying to pull him back into the fold. _No, sir. I am retired_ , the Were thought firmly. _Retired._ And it's not like he could just jump back into it even if he wanted to – which he most certainly did not.

Sebastian hummed in acknowledgement in the kitchen, not realizing the Were was talking to himself. "What are you going to do now?" he called.

"Um, nothing."

A curious head poked around the corner. "Nothing? Weren't you all gung-ho to find her an hour ago?"

"Yeah, because I thought she was alive. It's really not my business now that she's dead."

Sebastian ducked back around the corner before returning with two steaming mugs. He handed one to Ciel as he claimed the other end of the sofa. "You aren't going to find the killer? Bring him to justice?"

"Why would I?" Ciel asked incredulously. "I'm not a cop."

"Well, you did examine the body and interrogate me," Sebastian countered. "Seems pretty cop-like to me."

"You're suspicious as fuck and usually guilty of something. Since it wasn't you, it's none of my concern. Oh, wipe that smile off your face. I didn't mean it like that."

"So it's not your concern that a murderer is prowling your forest?"

Ciel gave him a scathing look. "Don't be ridiculous. Neither of us can die, so no, it does not 'concern' me at all."

Sebastian smirked. "Don't get cocky, kitten; killing us is easier than you think. An enchanted blade, another vampire, the right spell – pretty much _anything_ magical will do the trick."

"There was nothing magical about that girl's death. It was probably just an angry boyfriend with a baseball bat." Ciel sipped his hot chocolate calmly, not worried at all.

 _Knock-knock-knock_.

"There's your cue: beat it until they leave." Ciel frowned and looked over when he received no response, surprised to find Sebastian had already gone. _A Christmas miracle, two months late: he actually listened._

The interview was pretty standard. He told the two local White River police officers how he had gone for a morning walk on the nearby trail like he did every morning only to stumble across the missing girl from the news. Like any good citizen, he immediately called it in. The two officers nodded along, the smaller mousey man taking notes on a tiny pad while the intimidating larger one seemed intent on staring Ciel down for some reason. He didn't challenge anything he said, just examined him uncomfortably closely. Ciel sincerely hoped for the cop's sake that he wouldn't do anything stupid. He knew without a doubt that Sebastian would pop out of whatever shadow he'd hidden himself in the instant Officer Vanel laid a hand on him.

Fortunately, mousey Officer Wiggins ran out of questions shortly thereafter (not that there had been many to speak of) and thanked Ciel for his help. He shook the little Were's hand and headed for the door, pausing when he noticed his partner was still seated. "Azz?"

"Gimmie a sec, would ya'? I'll meet you at the car." Seeing Wiggins hesitate, Vanel held up a pleading hand. "Co'mon, it's personal. Only take a minute." Wiggins looked to Ciel, who nodded, before slipping outside. Curiouser and curiouser. Ciel arched a brow, leaned back, and waited for Vanel to speak.

"I know what you is," the large blond man stated, "and I wanna tell you that this shit ain't random."

Squinting at the officer's thick Boston-Italian accent, Ciel struggled to make sense of his words. "You mean Betty's murder? It wasn't random?"

"Yeah. It and the others, they wasn't random. Someone's knockin' off people like us."

Ciel examined the long, faint scar across the center of Vanel's face as he thought. " _Just_ people like us?"

"Well, I'm not sure about one of 'ems, but yeah, the others were Weres. So watch yourself." Having said what he needed to say, Vanel heaved to his feet and clomped out without another word. Ciel barely checked his urge to make a rude noise while the other Were could still hear him. His own pack growing up hadn't been the most welcoming, but these rural northern werewolves really took lack of social graces to a new level.

"Did you catch all of that?" he asked the seemingly empty room needlessly.

"Of course," Sebastian said from right behind him. Ciel didn't even flinch, already reacclimated to the creature's theatrics. "It sounds like we do have a problem after all, hmm?"

Ciel groaned, throwing his head back against the over-stuffed recliner. "I moved out here to get _away_ from this shit. Can't they go murder Weres somewhere else?"

Sebastian _tsk_ ed, "That's not very charitable." He collected Ciel's empty mug and ferried it to the kitchen to give the Were time to think. "You could just leave," he suggested upon his return.

Ciel lolled his head to one side to eye Sebastian. "You mean run away with you? Hah. As if." He looked back up at the ceiling. "No, I think there's no help for it; I need to put a stop to this before it gets worse."

Sebastian nodded. "This is your area of expertise. What should we do first?"

"We? There is no 'we' here. I am going to solve this and you are going to stay out of my way," the Were said firmly.

"Or, alternate plan, _I_ solve this on _my_ own and get you out of danger as quickly as possible."

Ciel's blue eyes narrowed at the thought of how Sebastian would accomplish such a feat. Brute force, dangerous vampire tricks, and torture most likely. Then Ciel would have _two_ supernatural menaces to deal with. Resigning himself to the lesser of two evils, he relented, "Fine, we'll do it together, but you have to follow my lead. Don't go running off and stirring up trouble." Sebastian slapped a hand to his chest and dropped his jaw in innocent affront. Ciel snorted. "Please. Just be happy I'm voluntarily working with you." He reached instinctively for his mug before remembering Sebastian had cleared it away. "First things first, I want you to see what you can find out about Betty Coleman's body. White River has a population of less than ten thousand so I doubt the morgue is very busy. If they even have one, that is. She may just be at the hospital now that I think about it." Ciel scratched his neck. "Wherever she is, I want you to get her autopsy report and look over the body for anything the doctors may have missed."

"Still afraid of corpses?" Sebastian teased.

Ciel gave him an unamused look. "Unfortunately, no. I've had ample experience with them since we last met. You just seem better suited to slinking, hiding, and lurking. I don't want to turn myself into a suspect by showing too much interest after they found her body behind my house."

Sebastian tilted his head to concede the point. "Very well. I will see what I can find."

"When you're done, meet me at the Lodge. I have some things I want to check out there."

\---

Slightly too early for the lunch rush, the normally busy Lodge was deserted when Ciel arrived. He walked up to the bar uncertainly, calling out, "Hello?"

A pan clanged in the back and Lizzy poked her nose out, smiling brightly when she caught sight of Ciel. She trotted up happily and flipped her long ponytail over her shoulder, the golden locks contrasting nicely against her usual black tee. "Hey, hot stuff, what are you doing here so early?"

"Just looking for some coffee. Know where I could get any?" he asked with a flirty eyebrow wiggle. Despite his firm resolve not to get tangled up with new people, Lizzy had become the closest thing he had to a friend here.

"I _think_ I have an idea." She giggled and turned around to set a mug under a big industrial machine. "I gotta wonder why you drove all the way up here for it, though. I know our coffee isn't good enough to warrant the long drive you just made. We're not exactly close to anything." She hefted a little pitcher of steamed milk and poured some in, doctoring Ciel's coffee just how she knew he liked it from his previous visits.

Ciel accepted the extra-wide mug with a smile, chuckling at the heart she'd drawn onto its surface. "You're good at this, you know," he noted, gesturing at the coffee.

"Not really. All I can manage are simple things like hearts and leaves." Her smile showed that she was pleased by his compliment despite her brush-off.

"That's more than I can do," Ciel shared, taking a long sip. "So, I was wondering …" he trailed off uncertainly.

Lizzy leaned in expectantly with a big smile, resting her elbows on the bar. "Yes?"

Ciel scooted closer and glanced around before whispering sweetly, "What can you tell me about the Weres around here?"

Lizzy jerked back with a gasp. "Ciel Phantomhive! Were you just flirting with me to get information?"

He had the grace to look chagrinned. "Not precisely, no. I was kind of flirting with you, yes. And I do want information. But I wasn't, I mean –"

"Oh, relax, you big baby. I'm not mad." Lizzy pleated her green waist apron in amused silence, leaning back against the far counter. "What do you want to know?"

"Well," he drawled, trying to decide where to start. "I met a man named Vanel today who said that Weres need to be looking over our shoulders because of … recent events." He didn't know how much Lizzy knew so he tried to ease into it delicately. It turns out his efforts were wasted.

"Oh, the," she started loudly, whispering "murders?" before returning to a normal volume. "Yeah. Azz – short for Azzurro – is the leader of the local pack here. He was probably just trying to be friendly by giving you a heads-up." She snorted cutely. "Well, as friendly as _that lot_ gets."

A smile wormed its way onto Ciel's face as he heard his own thoughts pop out of her mouth. "So you're not a member of his pack?"

"The Grey Wolves? Oh, god no. I'm perfectly happy on my own, thank you very much. They leave me alone, I leave them alone, and we all get along fine. They don't take women, anyway." Bright green eyes examined Ciel curiously. "You're not thinking about joining them, are you?"

Gray eyebrows rose at her tone. "Would that be a bad thing?"

"N-no, no, nothing like that," she said quickly, waving her hands. "They're just all so big and tough and _old_. You wouldn't fit in at all."

Ciel hid his smile behind his mug. _If only she knew._ "I guess you're right. I suppose you heard about Betty?"

"Yeah, she went missing last night. I hope she's okay." One look at Ciel's face told her all she needed to know. "Oh no! Not her, too." The waitress/bartender scrubbed a hand over her face. "She was sweet; I liked her. What happened?"

"Not sure. I found her on a trail near my house this morning."

"That's horrible! I'm so sorry. Oh! That must be how you met Azz, wasn't it?"

Ciel nodded. "And found out about the murders. I didn't know anything about it until today – still don't really. What _is_ going on?"

Lizzy nodded, golden curls bouncing. "That's right: you wouldn't would you? We don't see much of you up here and you don't strike me as the gossiping type anyway." A tiny crease appeared between her brows as she considered. "No one knows much, to be honest, just that three – four, now – people have died violently. The only connection is that they were all supernatural."

"All Weres?"

"Mostly. The third one was a … witch? Or fortuneteller of some type." She shrugged. "Not a Were. I never met her, I only know about it because everyone was on high alert after what happened to Chance and Phil." Lizzy idly shifted some glasses, organizing the bar as she spoke. Ciel nodded. Before he could ask anything else, a cranky male voice shouted something indecipherable from the kitchen and Lizzy said, "Oops! I think I took too long. They need my help in the back. Shout if you need anything."

Ciel waved her off and migrated to a booth. His true motive in coming here had been to get someone (not Sebastian) to make him coffee; Lizzy's info was a nice unexpected bonus. Now if that damn vampire pulled through, they might actually be able to get somewhere.

Ciel sat in silence for a while, enjoying his coffee and trying to ignore the unease creeping up his spine. No cars drove by, no people milled around, no games played on the TV. As much as he complained about other people, being the only one in a normally crowded space was kind of daunting. It was like everyone else had suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth. Ciel checked his phone to make sure he hadn't missed any messages.

"Do you mind if I sit here?"

Ciel's heart nearly beat out of his chest at the sudden adrenaline rush and his head snapped up to find a familiar stranger looming over him. He had seen the brightly-dressed Chinese man (Li? Lau?) lurking around but they'd barely exchanged words before. He cast his eyes pointedly over the deserted restaurant before deigning to state the obvious: "This is literally the only occupied table in here."

"So it is," the man agreed, sliding into the booth on the other side.

Ciel quirked a brow. "That was meant to be a hint."

"Was it?" the other man asked, tilting his head. "It sounded like an invitation to me, but who can tell with these things?"

Ciel grunted and leaned back. "Who are you, anyway?"

"Lau," the other man stated simply, looking off into the distance. At least, Ciel thought he was; the stranger's eyes were either closed or so close to it he couldn't tell the difference. Odd. After a moment of silence, Ciel shrugged and looked back down at his phone. Lau wasn't bothering him, so what did he care where the man chose to sit?

Still no word from Sebastian. As quickly as the vampire did literally everything else, he seemed to be moving at a glacial pace on this task for some reason. _Probably trying to irritate me_ , Ciel thought with a quick roll of his eyes.

"You should be nicer to him," Lau said suddenly.

"Pardon?" Ciel asked, confused.

"Your friend, the overgrown Emo. Black hair, black clothes. You should be nicer to him."

"Excuse you, man I just met," Ciel snapped, crossing his arms, "but that is absolutely none of your business."

Lau shrugged, sipping the steaming mug of tea Lizzy must have brought while he was absorbed in his thoughts. "Just saying. I saw you two the other night. He seems like he's trying to apologize and you're giving him a hard time."

Ciel's face darkened. "He deserves it. And who said I needed your help with anything, anyway?"

Lau's eyes cracked open to reveal warm amber irises. "Don't you?"

The werewolf stiffened. "Do you mean …?" Lau nodded. "How do you know about that?"

"That same way everyone else does, I assume."

"Everyone?"

"It is rather obvious, if you don't mind my saying." Lau closed his eyes, sipped his tea, and waited a few heartbeats before asking, "What are we talking about, anyway?"

Ciel sputtered. "I thought you were – ugh! You have no idea what I was just talking about, do you?" He hunched over and ground the heels of his hands into his eyes in frustration. "What is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? You're the one making a scene and talking about nothing."

Ciel glared, straightening back up. He chanced another glance around and was glad to see they were still alone. "Asshole," he grumbled, picking his phone back up. Lau hummed in amusement and went back to sipping his tea, staring off into the distance. Ciel barely had time to calm down and get back into his reading before Sebastian called his name.

"Well, that's my cue." Ciel stood and stuff his phone into his pocket.

"Nice meeting you, Ciel," Lau offered, lifting his tea cup in a tiny toast.

Ciel blinked down at him suspiciously. "I never told you my name."

Lau shrugged. "You didn't have to. Small towns and all that. Run along now; don't keep your friend waiting."

"Tch," Ciel scoffed. "Whatever. Later."

Sebastian leaned against the bar, interested crimson eyes flicking between Ciel and the booth he just left. "Who were you talking to?" He asked as soon as Ciel was decently close.

Ciel shook his head. "No one. What did you find out?"

The vampire's lips turned up into a smug grin. "Taser marks."

"Excuse me?" The Were looked up quizzically.

"The marks on Betty Coleman's neck came from a taser. A TASER C.E.W, to be exact."

"Someone tased her in the neck," Ciel repeated. "That's … odd."

Sebastian shrugged. "I doubt it was intentional. It was probably the result of poor aim or Betty moving to get away." He stared down at Ciel pointedly, clearly waiting for an apology that was never coming. The smaller man turned away.

"While you were taking your time doing that, I found out that the third victim was a witch. Hey," Ciel said, struck by a sudden thought, "I wonder if they were all female?"

"No."

"No? Like, 'no, you don't wonder' or 'no, they're not?'"

"The other two were male werewolves, one young, one old. I took the liberty of digging up their records as well while I was at the hospital."

_Oh, right. Lizzy said 'Chance and Phil.' Male names. Duh._

The soft _wa-thump_ of a swinging door caught Ciel's attention and he turned to see Lizzy coming out of the back. She smiled brightly at Sebastian. "Oh! Hello there. I thought I heard someone else out here." The vampire grinned broadly, making Lizzy flush pink. "Is it my lucky day or what?" she asked, eyes bouncing between Ciel and Sebastian. "Can I get you anything, sweetie?"

"Just a black coffee please, darling." Ciel gave him a dirty look at the pet name, but Lizzy didn't seem to mind.

"I've seen you here before. Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend, Ciel?" she asked playfully, sneaking glances at the tall, black-haired man out of the corner of her eye.

"Sebastian Michaelis at your service, miss."

"You're laying it on thick," Ciel muttered.

"It might surprise you to learn that some people find me charming."

"Only idiots, Ciel grumbled.

"I think he's dreamy," Lizzy interjected, setting a steaming mug in front of Sebastian. "You want another, Ciel?" Still cranky, Ciel managed a nod and did his best not to scowl at her. It wasn't Lizzy's fault that Sebastian tap-danced on his every last nerve. His shoulders relaxed involuntarily at the scent of coffee when the young woman placed another perfect latte in front of him, this one adorned with a chain of three hearts. She patted his hand where it rested on the bar top. "Don't be jealous, you're still the only one for me."

Ciel blinked up at her with wide eyes and she winked before wandering off to make sure all the tables were stocked with napkins.

"I didn't know you had a girlfriend."

"Shut up."

"It explains your unnatural resistance to my advances. Everything is so clear now."

"You're such a dick." Ciel gave a deep slurp and a hasty jiggle to his coffee to remove the hearts. "Can we please talk about murder victims like normal people?"

Sebastian sniggered. "Very well. The two male wolves were shot with different guns, the one you call a witch was stabbed, and you saw Betty: tased with her head beaten in. Not exactly consistent."

Ciel nodded. "It could mean any number of things. Murders of opportunity, a progressing pattern, multiple unrelated crimes, shit, it could be anything at this point. We just don't know enough." The Were frowned, scrunching up his nose unhappily as he took an angry gulp of coffee.

"Maybe all four have something in common?" Sebastian suggested. "A lover, a boss, a sibling – an enemy?"

Ciel hummed, scratching at his chin. "The two men might have been in the same pack, but the Grey Wolves don't accept women, so I doubt Betty was. The witch girl definitely wouldn't be. Most people around here came out to the middle of nowhere to get away from everyone, not make friends or start drama, so there may be no connection at all."

Sebastian stared up pensively, finger tapping against his bottom lip. "Come to think of it, I might have something of interest to you." He unlocked and extended his phone.

Ciel quirked a brow and accepted it silently, not bothering to ask why as he was sure he'd see for himself soon enough. He scrolled down a seemingly endless list of names, motives, and alibies trying not to feel impressed. "So this is what took you so long."

Sebastian mocked a tiny gasp and cupped a hand behind his ear. "Was that a tone of appreciation I heard? Be still my heart."

Ciel sighed and handed the phone back. "I have no problem admitting you did a good job with all that, but unfortunately it doesn't help."

"Doesn't it?" the older man asked meaningfully.

"Well, no. Obviously. No one you talked to gave any indication of being the killer."

" _Exactly_. Sometimes what's _not_ there is more important than what is."

"You don't think any of them is the killer," Ciel stated for the sake of clarity.

"Precisely."

"So, if none of the people on that list are guilty, we need to find someone else," Ciel mulled aloud. "I assume you didn't interview the _whole_ town in the past two hours?"

"Not quite. That list was just for people in and around the hospital as well as anyone else they alibied out."

Ciel nodded, chewing on his lips. "That's still a bit problematic, isn't it? See my earlier statement about most people here being anti-social and spread out. How would we even find them _to_ interview?"

Sebastian tilted his head in silent acknowledgement and sipped his coffee. "You could try talking to – what did you call them? – the Grey Wolves? They must have _monthly_ meetings at least," the vampire suggested with a knowing grin.

Ciel grunted. "Ignoring your racist implication for a second, the full moon was last night. We'd have to wait another entire month for them to meet up if that were the case."

"Or you could just come back tonight," Lizzy suggested as she passed close by behind them.

"Oh? Why is that?" Sebastian asked smoothly while Ciel jerked up as if she'd poured ice water down his spine. He'd forgotten she was still here.

"The Grey Wolves meet here every Saturday," Lizzy explained, now wiping down the far end of the bar. "They like watching the Maple Leaf games." At Ciel's confused look, she explained, "You know, hockey? The Toronto Maple Leafs?"

He nodded mutely a few times. "I was just surprised you overheard us."

"Really? You two are the only ones in here. How could I not?"

Ciel turned to look at the booth to his left rear, not surprised to find that Lau had slipped out after being abandoned. "Yeah. I guess we weren't being very secretive about it," he admitted. "Not that there's anything to be secretive _about_ ; I'm sure everyone is speculating about the killer."

"Pretty much," Lizzy agreed. "It's been most of the conversation around here lately. I'm surprised you didn't notice when you came in a few days ago."

"I was a little distracted with other things that day." Ciel shot a look to his companion. "Did you hear anything about it?" Sebastian nodded and shrugged to communicate that he had both heard it and dismissed it as unimportant. "Of course you did, bat ears," the Were muttered.

"Now who's racist?"

Lizzy giggled. "You two bicker like an old married couple."

"We do not!" Ciel snapped.

She gave him a look and a pointed "M' _hm_ " before tossing her wet towel in a bin. "Come back around six. That should give you an hour to talk to them before the match starts. Whatever you do, don't bother them during it. One year, the cable went out in the middle of a game and – well, don't bother them while the game is on," she advised, waving a hand. "Hello! I'll be right with you!" she called over Sebastian's shoulder to the couple that just walked in. "Good luck boys."

\---

The difference seven hours made was astounding. That morning's bright, peaceful silence had been shattered by blaring TVs, tightly packed groups of shouting drunks, and the typical clanks, bangs, and shouts of a busy restaurant. Ciel only then realized that he'd never visited the Lodge on a weekend night; he would have remembered this much chaos. Thankfully, it was friendly loudness for the moment and he hoped it would stay that way.

Sebastian had agreed to let Ciel do the talking but refused to let him do it alone. Requests for him to remain outside also been rejected, so Ciel grudgingly allowed the vampire to follow him in and watch from the bar so long as he did not intervene unless absolutely life-or-death necessary. It was a compromise neither of them liked but both agreed was tolerable.

Ciel walked straight up to the large, half-full table in the center of the room and stopped in front of the only person he recognized. "Mister Vanel," he greeted softly.

The scar-faced Were looked up at him from his seated vantage point. "Oh, hey kid." He nudged the darker-skinned man seated next to him with his elbow. "Hey, Marv, this is the little Were boy I told yous about." Marv looked over and nodded in silent greeting, clearly not too interested. Ciel nodded back.

"I was wondering if I could ask you some questions," Ciel continued.

Vanel sighed and ran a hand over his face and up into his messy yellow hair. "I knew this was gonna to happen. Look kid, it's not that we don't like yous; we're just not in the mentor business, a'ight? We formed this pack to get away from responsibilities, not find new ones. Go sort yaself out and when you get shit figured, you can join us, capiche?"

Ciel frowned. "I don't want to join you. I want to ask you some questions about the murders."

Vanel's face hardened, dishwater-gray eyes boring into Ciel. "That there's a serious matter kid. I don't discuss police business off the clock and I sure don't do it with civilians. Scram."

"I'm not interested in the police part of it, just the werewolf part. Were the two men who died part of your pack?"

Vanel slapped one hand on the table, startling nearby tables into silence. From the far side of the room, Lizzy's head whipped up and she looked over worriedly. "Phil's death ain't no sideshow entertainment for rubberneckers. Beat it before I makes you beat it."

Ciel perked up. "Phil – just Phil? None of the others were Grey Wolves?"

The blond officially lost his patience. He pushed his chair back so hard the heavy table scooted forward a few inches as he jumped to his feet. "Who the _fuck_ do you think you is sticking your goddamn nose where it don't belong!?" By now, everyone had gone silent and Lizzy was reaching under the bar, possibly for a gun or alarm of some kind. Next to her, Sebastian was watching Ciel's back intently but showed no signs of jumping in.

The small Were didn't even flinch. He silently reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his old flip-style badge. He technically wasn't supposed to have it – and he certainly wasn't supposed to be using it – but he had dug it up and brought it along because he thought it might be helpful. Hell, he'd given over sixty years of his life in service to Queen and Country, it was time they gave something back to him. "Special Investigations. North American Commander Ciel Phantomhive."

Slightly calmer but still scowling fiercely, Vanel reached out and took the badge to examine it. One of the older men at the table let out a low whistle at Ciel's title. "Little young to be a big dog," Vanel grunted, clearly undecided about whether or not to accept Ciel's authority.

Ciel smirked. "I assure you, I'm not as young as I look." Azzurro still held onto his badge, unconvinced. "Look, you can either answer my questions and watch your game in peace or you make me call in reinforcements and find out what happens when you get into a pissing contest with the top dog. It's up to you."

Vanel warily handed the bi-fold back and grunted, "Sorry."

Ciel accepted it graciously. "I know what it's like to lose a packmate. No hard feelings. You said Phil was part of your pack, but not Chance or the women?"

"That is correct."

"Did any of you know the others?" he directed this question to the table at large and got a mixture of nods, grunts, and headshakes.

"It's a small town," Vanel clarified. "Had we seen 'em around? Sure. Even talked to that Chance kid myself a bit, but like I said, we ain't about letting things get complicated. It's one of our rules: we keep to ourselves."

Ciel's eyes snapped to Marv, who was squirming in his seat. The ex-Commander leaned down to get into Marv's face. "Marv?" he addressed the greasy-haired man softly. "Something you want to share?" Marv swallowed, looking up into Ciel's blue eyes then glancing at Vanel nervously. Ciel snapped his fingers, bringing the beady-eye man's attention back to him. "Don't look at him; look at me. Did you know one of the victims?"

Marv nodded. He cleared his throat and stammered out, "B-b-betty," ducking his head as soon as the name left his lips.

"Ugh, Marv," Vanel groaned, tossing his head back. "I told you to leave 'er alone."

Marv glared up, inexplicably finding his spine. "I'm not a monk, Azz! I can't just ignore a pretty girl 'cause you say so."

"Hold it!" Ciel interjected before things could get sidetracked. "I don't care about your drama, tell me about Betty."

Marv's face softened into a smile that would look more at home on the face of a teenage girl than a middle-aged man. "Betty was a sweetheart. Everyone loved her."

"Clearly not everyone. Someone had a pretty big beef with her." Ciel looked up at the leader. "Mister Vanel, you don't seem too happy about Marv and Betty being together."

Azzurro snorted. "Yeah, that's 'cause I'm not. We's supposed to be connecting with nature and forming a strong pack bond, not foolin' around with chicks and gettin' caught up in outside messes. Am I mad at Marv? Yeah. Did I kill his girl? No. I didn't even know he was still fooling around with her until a minute ago. If you wants a suspect, go check out that albino poof on the hill."

"'Albino poof on the hill?'" Ciel repeated, completely confused.

"Yeah, Chamberpot or whatever his name is."

"Yeh can't say 'poof' no more," one of the other men interjected. "It ain't PC."

"Screw PC. That asshole's been nothing but trouble since he moved in, always bitchin' about how he thinks the pack is running around on his land and he don't want those Chinese girls doing their voodoo stuff. Anything remotely supernat'ral-like happens and he throws a fit. He calls the station with a new complaint every week, the asshole. If anyone's killing people, it's him."

Ciel raised a dark gray brow. "If he's such an obvious suspect why haven't you arrested him yourself?"

Vanel grimaced and plopped back down into his chair. "Bastard's got air-tight alibis for every single murder. I think it makes him look even more guilty myself, but there ain't nothing we can do 'cause of it." He scuffed the toe of his boot on the floor angrily. "I don't like outsiders messin' around in our business, but if you can get that jackass to clear out, we'll give you any help you need." A few of the others grumbled something that sounded like assent, glaring at their plates and muttering out of the sides of their mouths. Whoever this 'Chamberpot' was, they didn't seem to like him much.

Ciel regarded them appraisingly for a moment before nodding. It was a solid lead. "I'll look into it. Thank you for your cooperation."

Vanel grunted and turned back to his friends, giving Ciel the distinct impression of having been dismissed. He ignored it and headed to the bar. Sebastian was calmly swirling a tiny straw in his coffee and Lizzy was practically vibrating with pent up adrenaline. She slapped her hands on the bar top and leaned over to shout-whisper, "How did you calm him down like that!? I thought for sure he was going to hit you!"

Ciel shrugged. "It's a gift. What do you think?" he asked Sebastian, whom he was sure had caught every word of their exchange with his superior hearing.

"Sounds pretty suspicious to me."

"What are you two talking about?" Lizzy asked, looking back and forth between them.

"Mister Vanel mentioned someone named 'Chamberpot' who lives up on a hill? Do you happen to know anything about that?"

Lizzy groaned and rolled her eyes. "That guy. Yeah. Everyone knows him, unfortunately." A patron shouted for her attention and she held up a finger at him. "His name is Aleistor Chamber and he lives at the top of Druitt Hill," she explained quickly. "He's a jerk, but I don't think he's a murderer, if that's what you guys were talking about. Sorry, gotta go." She jogged off toward the other end of the long bar, disappearing in a flash of golden curls and perfume.

Sebastian hummed. "That was interesting." Ciel gave him an inquisitive look. "The men over there seem convinced Aleistor Chamber is behind everything while Elizabeth seems certain he's not. I wonder why that is?"

Ciel blinked at the use of Lizzy's full name then shook it off. _Honestly, what else would Lizzy be short for?_ he chided himself. _Wait, what was Sebastian saying?_

He must have been silent too long because the vampire shrugged. "It's just odd, is all."

"Yeah … odd." Ciel agreed, brain trying to force the pieces together.


	3. White Noise

"Where are we?" Ciel asked, looking out the truck window the next morning. It had snowed overnight so everything was covered with fresh, powdery white and the world seemed unnaturally bright because of it.

"Hm, near Hearst I think," Sebastian answered from the driver's seat. Ciel normally would have fought him for the keys, but he hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night and his brain didn't want to come online this morning. He still grumbled about Sebastian taking charge, but was secretly grateful for the chance to rest a little longer.

"Why are we in Hearst?" he asked sleepily. _Why are we even out of the cabin? It's cold,_ he groused internally.

Sebastian chuckled. "You're the one who wanted to talk to Aleistor Chamber," he reminded. "Something about solving those murders and finding a killer. Ring any bells?"

Ciel grunted. "I guess." He folded his arms and hunkered down in his seat. Chamber. Murders. He could stick it out long enough for a simple interview.

Sebastian turned down a road ostentatiously marked "Druitt Hill" with a large, painted placard. The giant wooden sign was intricately carved and brightly colored, lit with solar lights and mounted on a short stone column. The further up they followed the road, the more manicured their surroundings became. It started subtly with the shaping of the trees into perfect cones and progressed into glittering ornaments and marble statues. Ciel gawked at a bush someone had pruned into the shape of a peacock. "Ugh, no wonder everyone hates this guy," Ciel groaned. "I hate him and I haven't even met him yet."

Sebastian snorted delicately as they rounded the last corner and Chamber's house came into view – 'house' being used in the loosest sense of the word. Ciel tilted his head at the round Frank Lloyd Wright creation, a white stone walkway swirling around the raised structure like a ribbon, walls of glass glittering in the morning sun. He supposed there was nothing architecturally wrong with it; it just didn't belong in the middle of the Canadian backwoods surrounded by frighteningly-overdone topiary. The greenery nearest the house had been clipped into sharp geometric shapes. From this angle, the house seemed almost upside down, hanging onto the earth through a few scant support posts and the curling walkway; coupled with the unnaturally-shaped greenery, it verged on surreal and Ciel found himself blinking fiercely to see if it would go away. "Please tell me you see that, too?" he whispered when the structure didn't resolve itself into something more plausible.

"Unfortunately, yes." Sebastian parked the car and turned it off, staring up in a mute horror to match Ciel's own. After an uncomfortable second of silence, he suggested, "The sooner we finish this, the sooner I take you back home and we wipe it from our minds."

Ciel couldn't fault that logic. He grudgingly dragged himself out of the car and trudged toward M. C. Escher's winter nightmare. As soon as his hand hit the bannister of the walkway, he shut his eyes and followed it up by feel. A large hand pressed firmly into his chest, stopping him before he walked blindly into the front door. The metallic gold front door. Ciel shuddered. He took a deep breath and martialed his resolve before ringing the bell. The first eight notes of "Ode to Joy" played inside the house and Ciel's mouth was still hanging open stupidly when the door flew open to reveal an enthusiastic man who had absolutely _no_ right to be this chipper.

"Welcome! Welcome! Welcome to the house on Druitt Hill!" Their tall, slender greeter was almost painful to look at, dressed in stark, vibrant white. His hair was the palest gold and eyes the fairest blue. He was rather washed out but obviously not albino as Vanel assumed. The mistake could be forgiven, however, as he seemed to be adrift in a sea of white and gold inside his ridiculous house. With the ground and trees covered in fresh snow, Ciel almost worried something had happened to his eyes to wash everything out. He snuck a surreptitious glance over at the black void that was Sebastian just to make sure they hadn't found a crack in the universe with this strange place. "The name's Aleistor Chamber. Who might you fine gents be?"

Sebastian cleared his throat when it was clear Ciel wasn't going to say anything. "I am Sebastian Michaelis; we spoke on the phone. This is my partner, Ciel Phantomhive."

Chamber looked excitedly back and forth between them. "My, my. When you said investigators, I was expecting dumpy old detectives not you hot young things. Get in here!" He pranced back, waving them inside with a flourish. " _Mi casa es su casa_. Always happy to help law enforcement. Let me take your coats. Can I interest you in some tea?"

"Ye-yes," Ciel stammered, fighting to come out of his stupor. "Tea would be … lovely." The blond nodded and escorted them into a bright sitting room, chattering non-stop until they were seated on a white leather sofa. Ciel mouthed, "What's wrong with him?" when their host scampered off to retrieve the tea. Sebastian shrugged, a little wide-eyed but otherwise seemingly unruffled by his weirdness.

"I do hope jasmine is acceptable," Aleistor said as he swanned back in with a golden tray and white serving set, which he sat on the glass coffee table between their sofa and his matching chair.

"Quite," Ciel agreed. "Mister Chamber –"

"Aleistor, please! We're all friends here." He graced them with a mega-watt smile before turning his attention to pouring and serving the nearly-transparent tea.

Ciel's cheek twitched but he didn't dispute it. "We were wondering if we could ask you some questions about the recent deaths in this area."

Aleistor gasped, dropping his golden teaspoon with a clatter and bringing his hand to his mouth like a scandalized southern heroine. "Deaths! I had no idea such a thing was happening."

Sebastian's brow raised the smallest bit. "Now Mister Chamber –"

"Aleistor!"

"Aleistor," the vampire continued patiently. "I do believe I mentioned we are investigating a serial killer when I requested this interview."

Aleistor hummed, tapping a finger to his chin. He nodded slowly, lifting that finger for emphasis. "Now that you mention it, yes, that does ring a bell. I guess I just never made the connection. So you think the serial killer is murdering people?" Ciel barely checked his urge to scoff. He suddenly understood why Lizzy was so certain of Chamber's innocence: the man was a complete moron.

Sebastian smiled politely. " _Precisely_. We were wondering if you've seen anything suspicious in this area recently."

Chamber leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs. "I really shouldn't say …" he drawled, raising his cup to take a small sip. Ciel and Sebastian stared at him silently, waiting for him to go on. "What I mean is … you may not _believe_ me …." He turned his head to the side, waiting.

Ciel broke first. Aleistor was obviously not going to continue until they played along. "May not believe what," he asked as politely as he could, managing to tack on a faintly strangled, "Aleistor?" to the end.

His effort was quickly rewarded when Aleistor leaned in and whispered, " _Strange_ things happen around here. At the risk of sounding mad," he paused dramatically, "we have werewolves."

Ciel blinked at him in silence as he fought the urge to scream. "You don't say," he deadpanned.

"Oh, I do, I do!" Chamber nodded emphatically. He leaned forward and sat down his cup so he could gesture with both hands as he spoke. "I've seen them, running around my forest, tearing up my trees. They're quite the nuisance."

Ciel couldn't help the skeptical look that overtook his face. "I highly doubt werewolves are interested in destroying your trees." _Even as hideous as they are_ , he added silently.

Aleistor gave a put-upon sigh, flopping back to rest the back of his hand on his forehead. "Alas, I knew this would be the tragic end to our budding friendship, for how could you ever trust the words of a man you find mad?"

"Mister Chamber," Sebastian spoke soothingly. The man in question let out an agonized moan at the sound of his last name, covering his face and babbling something about how all good things must come to an end. "If you would _please_ calm yourself, I can assure you that neither my partner nor I think you mad." Ciel gave him a look that clearly said he disagreed but was ignored in the interest of peace.

Glancing up hopefully from between his fingers, Aleistor's laments cut off abruptly. "You don't?"

"No, Mister Chamber. Aleistor. We know werewolves are real. In fact, the serial killer is _targeting_ werewolves," Sebastian explained.

Aleistor perked up, face bright. "He is?"

"You don't have to look so happy about it," Ciel grumbled.

Aleistor sniffed and settled himself on the edge of his chair daintily, once again their graceful host. "I'm sorry to hear that people are being killed, but I'm not sorry it's those brutes."

"You mean the Grey Wolves?" Ciel clarified.

Aleistor nodded firmly. "Those are the ones. Ever since I started complaining about them using my land, they've been destroying my property and howling at all hours of the night. It's been simply terrible."

Ciel blinked at him. "You are aware that there are actual gray wolves in this area, correct? Non-werewolf animals that are wolves?"

The blond tilted his head as if considering this novel idea. "Really?"

Ciel closed his eyes and sighed. "Yes, Aleistor."

"Well. That, um, certainly explains some … things." Ciel didn't want to know. He really didn't. "But it's no excuse for rudeness. They're savages, the lot of them."

"Getting back on track, only one of the victims was a Grey Wolf. There was also a young man and two young women."

"Two women?" he asked interestedly. "That is strange."

"Did you happen to know any of them?" Ciel asked, pulling out his phone to bring up photos of all the victims. He watched Aleistor scroll through with rapt attention, pausing on one. "Yes?"

"This one," he said, turning the phone to show Ciel Tai-Lee, "she was a _witch_." He whispered the last word like it was dirty.

Ciel nodded. "We are aware. Did you know her?"

"Only from her hexes," Aleistor said, waving a hand airily. "The dear thing was obsessed with me. I rejected her advances one time to take home this other pretty little girl I met at a bar and the next week I came down with the worst case of herpes I've ever seen. Clearly the work of dark magic."

Sebastian choked back a laugh and Ciel took a deep breath, contemplating bleaching his brain when he got home. "This has been _very_ informative." He stood abruptly, brushing off his trousers. Ciel took his phone back, made a mental note to drown it in disinfectant, and turned toward the door. "Thank you for your hospitality, we can see ourselves out." He snagged his coat, pulling it on with a growl as he walked out.

"Oh dear, was it something I said?" Aleistor asked Sebastian.

"Not at all. My partner is simply being efficient. We have an appointment shortly and he does not wish to be late." Sebastian shook Aleistor's hand and smiled politely. "As he said, thank you for your help and it was a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Sebastian retrieved his own coat and reached into his pocket for the keys, eyes widening when he felt nothing but lint. Careful not to reveal his vampiric nature to Aleistor, he quick-stepped after Ciel, knowing full well the little shit would leave him to run home on foot if he wasn't in the vehicle when the Were started driving.

"Maybe – maybe we could go out to dinner some time?" Aleistor shouted at his back, chasing after the retreating duo.

"Sorry, on a liquid diet," Sebastian called back.

"A drink then?" Aleistor shouted, hanging over the railing. "I'll call you!"

Sebastian pretended he couldn't hear and raced down to the truck, jumping into the cab just as Ciel put it in reverse. "Close one," Ciel noted, eyes on the road as he executed a jerky three-point turn before heading back down the drive.

Sebastian sniffed, folding his arms. "I may never forgive you for abandoning me with that _thing_."

"Please, you'd have been fine."

"I really wouldn't. Imagine all the therapy I'd need after draining him dry."

"Afraid of a little Herpes Hex?" Ciel teased.

" _God_ ," Sebastian groaned.

"So we can safely cross him off the list?"

Sebastian thought carefully before suggesting, "I think I should kill him just to be safe."

 ---

"That was such a waste of time," Ciel complained, pushing a stem of broccoli around his plate aimlessly.

"Eating lunch?" Sebastian asked, hands wrapped around a warm drink to keep them at a more human temperature.

The Were gave him a dirty look. "Seeing Chambers."

"Still on about that? I would have thought you'd be happy to rule out a suspect."

Ciel pulled a face at him. He supposed it was good that they checked Chambers out, but they now had no leads and Ciel was beginning to curse his hermit nature. He didn't even know where to go to get an idea.

[1 new message from Unknown: **did u take my advice?** ]

The message floated across the screen of his phone silently, catching Ciel's eye. He picked it up and blinked at it for a second before responding: **Lau?**

Unknown: **who else?**

Ciel scowled, typing and erasing multiple messages before sending: **How'd you get my number?** He went ahead and added Lau to his contacts while he waited for a response.

Lau: **small town**  
Lau: **so did u?**

Ciel glanced at Sebastian, who was watching him with interest. "Excuse you." Ciel made a brushing motion with his hand to shoo him off.

"Who's that?" the vampire asked, leaning in rather than leaving.

Ciel tilted his phone away. "No one. Scram."

Sebastian's lip quirked up. "Is it your _girlfriend?_ "

Ciel's face went red. "Absolutely not." **Piss off** , he sent to Lau. _Annoying showy peacock, always butting his nose into other people's business,_ Ciel fumed. Something tickled the back of his mind, though, making him freeze.

"Ciel?"

"Shh!" Ciel held up a finger and stared blankly into the middle-distance, chasing his wisp of thought. _Something about Lau. Lau meddling in other people's business. Lau. Business. Lau's business!_ Ciel distinctly remembered driving past a ridiculously flashy Chinese building on his way to White River last month and was suddenly convinced it must have something to do with Lau. **Did you know Tai-Lee?** He asked on a hunch. A Chinese man in Canada was unnoteworthy. A Chinese man and a Chinese building were coincidental. A Chinese man, Chinese building, and dead Chinese girl started to build a picture.

Lau: **;)**

Ciel's brow arched of its own accord. He took that winky emoji to mean yes. **Did she work for you?**

Lau: **arent u a ball of questions 2day  
** Lau: **y dont u come find out**

Ciel stared down at his phone silently, trying to decide if Lau was being threatening or playful. It was an odd reaction either way.

"Something wrong?" Sebastian asked, placing his marked hand on Ciel's knee.

The Were looked up at the contact, brows still lightly furrowed. "No, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I just found a lead."

Sebastian examined his face. "You don't seem happy about it."

Ciel shook his head and put his phone away. "It's not that. Lau's just … really annoying. And confusing."

"Lau?"

"Yeah, the guy I was talking to yesterday at the Lodge? Bright tunic, no sense of personal boundaries?" Sebastian shook his head in the negative and Ciel shrugged. "Yeah, you've only been here a few days; I didn't expect you to know him. Anyway, I think Tai-Lee worked for him at that restaurant down highway eleven."

Sebastian looked conflicted for a moment before asking: "So you want to go check it out? We've got plenty of time before dark."

Ciel grimaced. "Nah, not today." Dealing with Aleistor had worn him out for the day; the last thing he wanted was to throw himself into another draining interpersonal situation.

"Good. We need to talk."

Or not.

Ciel emptied his water glass and turned to face Sebastian squarely, folding his arms on the table between them. He plastered on what his underlings referred to as his Boss Face and thought, _Bring it_. "So talk."

"I missed you."

Ciel stared him down silently.

"God, I missed you. I swear I didn't know you were still out there or I would have come back sooner." Sebastian reached out to place a hand on Ciel's forearm, rubbing it with his thumb.

Ciel sighed but didn't pull away. He was tired of dancing around this. It was time to rip the Band-Aid off so they could move on. "Look," he said calmly, eyes level. "You hurt me. I know it wasn't your intention, but you did. You turned me into a freak who doesn't belong anywhere. I've never had a home or a family; I've never had anyone. You promised to help me and you just … left." His mouth twisted and he rushed to add: "Shut up, I know I was the one who left, but you didn't follow. It's the same thing." Sebastian didn't argue and Ciel relaxed a bit. He sucked in a few deep breaths through his nose and looked down at the table before admitting. "But I am glad to see you again and I don't want you to leave."

Sebastian beamed and squeezed his forearm. "Let's start from there, then." Ciel considered carefully before nodding. After a few seconds of silence, the vampire admitted tentatively, "Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but that was much easier than anticipated."

Ciel snorted. "What were you expecting? Screaming, drama, and teenage angst? I'm old. I don't have the patience for that shit anymore. You're an asshole, but for some reason I want you in my life so I'm giving you another shot. Don't fuck it up."

"Said like a true little old man," Sebastian chuckled.

"I _am_ a little old man."

"Little? Yes. Old? No."

"I'm freaking eighty-nine years old. That may not be much to an immortal hellspawn like you, but it's ancient to us mere mortals."

Laughter danced in the depths of Sebastian's crimson eyes but he gallantly held it in. "Duly noted. Would you care for a midday nap before we find you an early bird special?"

"Fuck you," Ciel stated firmly, smile tugging at his lips.

"If you insist," Sebastian teased. His eyes widened as the little Were crawled into his lap and pressed their lips together. "Can't say that's ever worked before," the vampire mumbled through kisses.

"It didn't. You're annoying. Wanted to shut you up," Ciel explained between pecks, fisting his hands in Sebastian's hair to pull them closer together. Sebastian hummed happily, wrapping his long arms around him to pull them flush together. When Ciel broke for air, Sebastian skimmed his lips down the smaller man's neck, enjoying the silky texture. "Don't you dare bite me," Ciel warned sternly.

Sebastian pressed little butterfly kisses along Ciel's pulse. "Wasn't even thinking about it." He licked into the hollow of Ciel's throat and frowned when his pullover blocked any further progress.

"Bedroom," Ciel commanded, flicking Sebastian's hair like reigns.

"What if I want to spread you out right here and eat you on this table?" Sebastian murmured against his ear, flicking the point of his tongue over the delicate whorls of its shell.

Ciel shivered. "Lube's in the bedroom."

"Bedroom it is," Sebastian conceded immediately, unable to argue with that point. He cradled Ciel to his chest and moved as quickly as he could to the other room, which to Ciel was a brief blur of near-teleportation that left him slightly lightheaded.

"Eager?" the Were asked, taking his turn at the vampire's neck. He bit hard, smirking as Sebastian moaned. _Still a bit of a masochist, I see_.

"You have no idea." Sebastian pushed him down onto the mattress, pinning Ciel's wrists and thighs with his own hands and knees. He poured all his longing into one deep kiss to convey how very, very sorry he was for leaving.

"Sebastian," Ciel panted, squirming unsuccessfully when the vampire pulled back to rest their foreheads together.

"Hush." Sebastian transferred both of Ciel's little wrists into one of his large hands so he could stroke the other down the Were's face. "I've spent ages thinking of what I would do to you if I ever got the chance again." He slipped his free hand under the sweater's hem, skimming it over Ciel's concave belly and up his ribs to thumb at a nipple. The Were jerked, throwing his head back. Sebastian kissed down that pretty neck again and licked over the opposite nipple, rubbing the soft fabric against it with his tongue. Ciel tried to buck his hips and whined in frustration when he couldn't. Sebastian chuckled and bit down gently, rolling the hardened nub between his teeth and flicking it with his tongue. He plucked and teased its twin mercilessly with his fingers.

"God," Ciel moaned. "Please …"

"It's a little early for begging," the vampire noted, nuzzling down the younger man's clothed sternum. Ciel snarled – breaking off into a gasp as Sebastian ran his fingers along his waistband. Head ducked to obscure his smirk, Sebastian barely curled his fingertips under the fabric and listened to Ciel's breath hitch. He ran his hand over the front of Ciel's jeans, tracing his erection through the cloth. The Were whined like he was being tortured, which Sebastian supposed he was, so he threw the kid a bone and palmed the ridge firmly. He leaned down then paused, realizing he couldn't move his head further without releasing Ciel's hands, something he was not ready to do yet. In the blink of an eye he whipped Ciel's sweater up and almost off, tangling it around his wrists and binding them to the slatted headboard.

"Hey!" Ciel shouted indignantly, thrashing as much as he was able with his thighs pinned down.

Sebastian snorted. "I know you can get out of that if you really want to. Be a good boy and I'll keep going." He ran his fingertips over Ciel's chest and slid his hands down the Were's sides to squeeze his narrow waist. Red eyes locked onto blue, he leaned down the lap at Ciel's navel, leaving the _Break free and I'll stop_ part unspoken. The Were shivered but stopped fighting, eyes fixed on the vampire creeping down his body as slow as molasses. Sebastian spent approximately forever at his waistband, running his fingers back and forth, dipping his tongue teasingly under the band, biting at the button without undoing it, and "accidentally" bumping his chin into Ciel's straining member. He slid his hands up and down Ciel's thighs, thumbs drawing ever closer – before veering off to tease elsewhere. Every time Ciel thought they were finally getting somewhere, Sebastian would pull back and start a new form of torment.

"Would you stop being a dickhead and get on with it already!?" Ciel shouted, so worked up his teeth had become fangs.

Sebastian looked up innocently, batting his long, dark lashes as he demurely licked at Ciel's cock through his jeans. Slim fingers ghosted back up his legs and finally unfastened his pants. It was progress but Ciel frowned at the slowness, certain Sebastian was doing everything in his power to drag this out as long as possible, an assumption given credence by the way the creature wrapped one finger around the fabric at a time before pulling them down at a snail's pace. Ciel kicked them off himself as soon as they passed his knees and glared pointedly.

"Ah, the impatience of youth," Sebastian lamented. He removed Ciel's black boxer-briefs at a more reasonable speed and grasped his bare cock firmly, grinning when Ciel sucked in an involuntary breath at his cold touch. Sebastian swirled one finger over the tip of the glans and circled the edge of Ciel's foreskin to provoke the most beautiful moan. He leaned in and repeated the motion with his tongue, letting it slide into that sensitive little pocket of skin to earn himself a cry of pleasure. Ciel bucked under his hands and Sebastian took the hint, sliding his mouth down fully. He sucked and swirled his tongue against the soft skin.

"Yes, fuck – ungh! Like that," Ciel babbled, pulling against his bonds unconsciously. He practically cried when Sebastian pulled off to _tut_ at him.

"Careful now. Don't hurt yourself."

Ciel snarled unkind things as the absolute bastard crawled away to retrieve the lube and remove his own clothing at a human pace. It wasn't as slow and taunting as earlier, but Ciel was irked by the knowledge he could have already had it done if he wanted to. His stream of internal complaints screeched to an abrupt halt as he watched acres of flawless skin and muscle be revealed one button at a time. Ciel froze and tried not to blink as what was clearly a living statue disrobed itself. He had honestly forgotten how pretty the vampire was. He remembered thinking words like _perfect_ , _chiseled_ , and _flawless_ but his mental image had degraded, gone fuzzy around the edges with time. The real thing was – "Beautiful," he whispered, the word popping out without conscious thought.

Sebastian looked up from stepping out of his trousers. A soft smile bloomed on his face and for some stupid, sappy reason Ciel felt like he'd just watched a sunrise. The vampire crawled back up onto the bed and ran his hand down Ciel's side. "I like my view, too."

Ciel wanted to reach out and touch him, but the sweater kept his hands pinned. An unhappy wrinkle formed on his forehead. "Sebastian," he pleaded with puppy dog eyes.

The vampire closed his eyes and leaned their foreheads together. "Just a little longer. Let me make you come then you can do whatever you want." Ciel shivered at his words and nodded. Sebastian kissed the wrinkle to smooth it away. "Thank you," he whispered against Ciel's skin.

"You're such a bother," Ciel huffed lightly.

The vampire rumbled a chuckle as he slid down between the little Were's thighs. "You bear the burden admirably." He kissed all over the delicate skin below before introducing a slick finger, startled to an abrupt stop by Ciel's violent jump. "Everything alright?"

The Were nodded. "It was just – unexpected."

Sebastian patted his hip soothingly and resumed moving. "You're really tight," he noted, struggling to fit a second finger into the snug hole. "Long dry spell?"

"A-a-and you're a bastard again," Ciel grumbled, looking away, cheeks a mortified pink.

Sebastian lapped at Ciel's testicles and shaft, laving the whole area with broad, wet licks as he continued to pump his fingers in and out, angling his wrist until he heard a sudden gasp. _Excellent._ He recaptured Ciel's very interested cock with his mouth and finger fucked him in earnest. Loud cries echoed off the cabin walls, a symphony of pleasure with Sebastian as the conductor.

"I – I –" his instrument panted, hips bucking.

Sebastian heeded his warning and sucked him down, swallowing rapidly to push Ciel over the edge.

When Ciel came to his senses, his arms were free and Sebastian was petting his head like a kitten. He burrowed deeper into the vampire's chest, sighing happily.

\---

Morning light glowed behind his curtains and Ciel's eyes opened ten seconds before his alarm went off. He let it ring once before shutting it off and sitting up, stretching his arms up high over his head and nearly jumping out of his skin when a muscular arm snaked around his waist. He whipped around to gape at Sebastian. "What are you doing here?"

The vampire wrapped both arms around his chest and pulled him down, draping a heavy thigh over him for good measure. "Just waiting for you to wake up."

Ciel laid stiffly in his arms, mildly freaked out any trying not to show it. What had happened yesterday? _Sebastian showed up and killed a girl – no, a girl was killed. That's right. A girl was killed a few days ago and we are looking into it together. We talked to the Grey Wolves – wait, that was two days ago. Yesterday was Aleistor Chamber_ (he shuddered at the thought) _and then …_ Ciel's eyes widened. _Oh. OH._ He looked up at Sebastian, surprised. "Um, hi," he said meekly.

Sebastian chucked and kissed the tip of his nose. "Hello. Are you always this docile in the morning?"

Ciel frowned and bit Sebastian's chin lightly in retaliation. "And to think I was about to offer to return yesterday's blowjob. Your loss."

"I guess I'll just have to make do with the three times we copulated afterward. Pity." Sebastian sighed with faux-sadness.

Ciel stared at him in shocked silence. _Three times!?_ He certainly didn't remember all of _that_. In fact, everything after his blowjob was a bit hazy. 

Seeing his expression, Sebastian laughed and nuzzled the side of his head. "Your mind looks absolutely blown. I suppose I'll take that as a compliment."

"You would," Ciel muttered, not at all happy to have blanked out an entire afternoon and evening of undoubtedly amazing sex. Pouting, he struggled his way free to use the facilities and splash water on his face. It made him feel mildly more alert. By the time he pulled on clothes and migrated to the kitchen, Sebastian already had a pot of coffee finished and was ten minutes away from fresh croissants. Ciel tried not to be impressed.

Sebastian handed him a fancy coffee – something vanilla this time – and let him drink it all before trying to communicate, something Ciel greatly appreciated. It was probably done to save himself the trouble of repeating everything he said until Ciel's brain came online for the day, but Ciel appreciated it nonetheless. "Today's agenda consists of your new lead," he announced. The Were's head tilted questioningly and Sebastian explained, "Before we got distracted yesterday you said something about Tai-Lee working for Lau. I believe you wanted to look into that?"

Ciel drew in a quick breath as the pieces clicked back together in his head. _That's right, Lau has a shop of some kind and I'm pretty sure Tai-Lee was connected to him or it. I wonder what kind of place it is?_ Would it be a witch shop? Just because Tai-Lee was a witch didn't necessarily mean she used it for her job. He pulled out his phone and tried to look up the address so he wouldn't have to drive up and down the highway hoping to spot it, but had no luck. He knew it was down Highway 11 but not exactly where. After a brief debate, he texted Lau for directions. He didn't have much of an element of surprise to lose since the man had already invited him to talk and Ciel didn't want to accidentally drive all the way back to Toronto looking for it.

A steaming plate of yeasty goodness slid under Ciel's nose and stole his attention. Ciel shamelessly stuffed one into his mouth, closing his eyes in bliss as it melted on his tongue. They were like crack cocaine made of butter and honey and Ciel murdered four before he noticed his phone blinking silently on the table next to him. He was content to ignore it for a while when it flashed a second time and then a third, making Ciel wonder what Lau wanted. "Can you get that?"

"Get what?" Sebastian looked up from refilling Ciel's coffee. A few drops dribbled onto the table.

"Phone," he clarified, gesturing with his elbow as he walked over to the napkin holder on the kitchen counter. "I'm buttery."

Sebastian tilted his head at the ancient black rectangle before picking it up and unlocking it onehanded. "There's nothing here."

"There should be a text." Sebastian swiped a few times with a displeased frown and said nothing. Ciel rolled his eyes, wiped his face and fingers off, and walked back over to pluck it out of his loose grip. "You give me shit for having outdated technology when you can't even open a text message? Who's the real dunce here?" With two quick taps he had it pulled up.

Lau: **no addrss just outside town**  
Lau: **if u think u went 2 far u did  
** Lau: **c u soon**

Ciel grimaced at the man's appalling text lingo and wondered if it was intentional or the result of some kind of traumatic brain injury.

"Bad news?"

"No news, actually. I asked for an address that apparently doesn't exist. Guess I'll just have to keep an eye out while you drive."

Sebastian licked his lips hesitantly. "About that …." Ciel looked at him questioningly. "I'm going to need to get something today."

"Okay. Can we do whatever it is on the way back?"

"That would be inadvisable." He looked at the Were pointedly until Ciel threw up his hands in frustration. He wanted to get on the road and didn't have time for Sebastian's heel-dragging.

"Would you just spit it out already?"

Sebastian's face darkened marginally. "It's a bit of a sensitive topic for you, actually. I'm trying to ease you into it nicely."

Ciel blinked at him. "O-o-okay. Take your time, I guess?" _But also hurry up because I want to go._

"You know how I've been feeding you these past few days?"

"We need more food?" Ciel guessed, wondering how that was at all a sensitive topic.

"Yes, but not for you."

Ciel stared at him, unamused. "I know you don't eat food, so don't tell me this pressing mission of yours is to –" he cut off abruptly, understanding dawning on his face. "You have _got_ to be kidding me! 'I did you so you do me?' You know I don't like it when you bite me!"

"No!" Sebastian snapped quickly. He lifted his hands placatingly as if calming a wild animal. "No, I never said that. I just need to feed. Not on you, just on someone. It's been, well, far too long." Ciel could see the faintest tremor in the vampire's hands and felt his anger fizzling out. "Vampires aren't really cut out for isolation," Sebastian explained with a self-deprecating smile.

 _Weak grip. Dribbled coffee. Shaking hands. He really is falling apart._ Ciel felt like a world-class jerk. Sebastian was physically suffering in order to stay with him and Ciel was selfishly letting him for no reason other than his animal spirit disliked feeling like prey. He looked down in shame and raised his wrist silently, offering it up. Sebastian wrapped his fingers around it gently and lifted it to his mouth where he placed a light kiss on it before returning it to Ciel's side.

"Thank you. I'll keep your offer in mind if I'm unable to score today, but it's not that bad yet." He caught the unhappy flash in Ciel's eyes at the word 'score' and tilted the smaller man's chin up. "Only blood. I don't normally sleep with my food."

Ciel's shoulders relaxed minutely. The motion was so small anyone other than a vampire probably wouldn't have noticed. Ciel fought a smile and sniffed in a weak reflection of his usual imperious attitude. "As if I care what you do. I was just deciding how to approach Lau now that I'm going alone."

"You don't have to go alone. I'm sure I'll be back in the early afternoon at the latest."

Ciel waved him off. "Please. I've interviewed plenty of suspects alone for work and we're going to be at his place of business during the day, not some seedy back alley at night."

Mollified, the vampire allowed, "If you're sure?" Ciel nodded. "Then I'll try to make this quick and meet up with you wherever you are."

Ciel groaned. "Or you could not be clingy and overbearing for once."

Sebastian kissed his forehead. "Not likely. Call me if you need me."

"Yeah, yeah," Ciel said with an eye roll, secretly pleased.


	4. Tea and Murder

The drive actually wasn't too bad, even if he did have to struggle through it alone. He did the thirty minutes into town easily enough then followed the highway east. Before he even thought to wonder if he'd gone too far, the pointy red building appeared on the other side of the road. One quick U-turn later and he was parked in the surprisingly crowded parking lot. "Crowded" being a relative term in the middle of nowhere. He gave it a long, pensive look before going in.

Ciel expected – well, he wasn't sure what he expected, but it wasn't _this_.

Part of him assumed Kong-Rong would be like the other witch shops he'd been in: full of crystal bottles, gemstones, mysterious artifacts, and large wall-hanging mandalas. Maybe with some New Age trance music or an old folk pipes track playing softly in the background.

Another part saw the building's traditional tea shop exterior and assumed it would be a tranquil Zen garden of low tables and fragrant leaves. Maybe with some traditionally dressed serving girls and gentle wind chimes.

What he most definitely did _not_ expect was a cross between a rave and an opium den. The rice paper windows were blacked out on the inside to create a nice backdrop for the colorful neon lights, completely ignoring the bright morning sunlight outside. Electric kanji illuminated the walls and table edges. Dim black lights filled in the spaces between, producing an odd purple glow. Soft fabric divided the seating areas into cozy pits around what he hoped were hookahs. The plush kimonos he expected were scandalously short cheongsam dresses (possibly just shirts) despite the weather outside. Most jarring, though, was the poppy-techno soundtrack blaring through the speakers that didn't seem to fit with any of it.

Ciel instantly felt overwhelmed. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to yank his coat off to avoid heat stroke, cover his ears to protect them from musical blasphemy, or close his eyes until this obvious hallucination went away.

"Hello," a soft, deep voice said from disturbingly close, making Ciel snap his eyes open and realize he'd unconsciously gone for Option C. A buxom Chinese woman peered slightly up at him curiously, their noses almost touching. Startled, he took an instinctive step back before realizing it probably came off as rude. He cleared his throat and smiled politely in apology. "Can I help you?" she asked, ignoring his flinch.

The music obviously wasn't as loud as he first thought if he could hear her so easily, which made Ciel feel even stupider for overreacting. "Hello. Um, I was wondering if I could ask the manager a few questions." The woman tilted her head in consideration then nodded once. When it was clear she wasn't going to elaborate, Ciel prompted, "Can you take me to his office?" She considered him even longer this time before nodding and pointing toward a door in the corner. Without a word, she turned and walked toward it, clearly expecting him to follow. Ciel tried not to rubberneck too much as he did, discretely peering into various seating areas and suspecting they were serving something other than tobacco from the state of their patrons. _Not my circus, not my monkeys_ , he reminded himself.

The back room was shockingly different from the front area and much more in line with the little tea shop in his head. Plush cushions in teal and gold surrounded a low wooden table and hanging paper lanterns provided warm, soothing light. Pink potted flowers and silk wall hangings brightened the space further. As soon as the door closed, most of the sound from the customer area disappeared. Ciel sighed in relief and shrugged out of his jacket. He looked around, frowning when he realized the woman standing by the door was the only other person in there.

"I need to speak to the manager," he repeated. She nodded, gesturing for him to sit down. He lowered himself onto the nearest cushion and watched as she prepared a tea tray. "That's really not necessary. I just have a few questions if you'll go get him."

"Tea makes talking easier" was her cryptic response. He sighed silently. There was no point in arguing over the few minutes it would take her to prepare a drink.

"Thank you," he said graciously as she placed a tiny gilded cup in front of him. She stared down pointedly and he hastily took a sip to appease her. "Very good," he wheezed as the scalding water burned its way down his throat.

She snorted and sat next to him with her own cup, hands wrapped around it.

Ciel licked his lips, debating on whether he should keep trying to make her get the manager or not. She obviously knew what he wanted and was intentionally not giving it to him, so he decided to see how her game played out.

They ended up drinking in silence, both staring straight ahead at the vase in the center of the table. Short. Squat. Stylized dragon and five-petal flowers. Ciel felt he had memorized every painted stroke on the thing and would be able to draw it in his sleep by the time he felt his patience waver. Game be damned, he was about to crack and break the silence when his companion snatched up his empty teacup and stared intently into it. "You need a Purple Star Reading," she noted softly.

"No, what I _need_ ," Ciel snapped, frustration working its way into his tone, "is to speak to the _manager_. If you would kindly _go get_ _him_ , I can ask my questions and be on my way."

"I am Ran Mao."

Ciel sucked in a calming breath through his nose. He wanted to shout but was beginning to suspect they were dealing with a language barrier and knew it wouldn't help. "Me," he gestured to himself, "looking," he shaded his eyes and looked around, "for manager." _Shit, how do I mime manager?_ For lack of better options, he sat up straight, pounded a fist against his chest and pointed to where a nametag might be. Ran Mao looked at him like he'd gone crazy and Ciel honestly didn't blame her. How could she possibly have made sense of that? "Boss? Owner? Man in charge?" She shook her head and Ciel sighed.

"No man, only Ran Mao."

Ciel sighed – then abruptly straightened and looked over when a thought struck him. "You mean you are the manager?" Ran Mao nodded. Ciel felt like a complete jackass. He was sure his face must be incandescent with how hot it felt. "I – I see. Sorry." She shrugged, waiting for him to get on with it. "I have a few questions about Tai-Lee. She worked here, correct?"

"Yes."

"Did you know her?"

"Yes."

"Did you know her well?"

"Yes."

 _Cultural differences, cultural differences, don't be a jackass_. "Can you tell me what she did here?"

"Tai-Lee was a waitress."

 _At least it wasn't a 'yes.'_ "And you knew her well from her work or did you know her outside of work, too?"

"Both. She was Lau's girlfriend."

Invisible exclamation points appeared above Ciel's head. Lau had definitely never mentioned that! "So she and Lau …" he trailed off, not sure where to go with his question. It would be stupid to ask how well they knew each other if they were dating and he didn't want to outright accuse her boss of murder.

Ran Mao seemed to understand. "It's very sad. He loved her too much."

"So you don't think he could have anything to do with her death?"

She blinked at him like he'd grown a second head. "Of course not."

 _A strong 'no' on that then_.  "I see. Do you know of anyone who would want to hurt her?"

Ran Mao's mouth pulled to one side as she considered him. "We have already answered these questions. Do you think we are lying?"

Ciel held up his hands placatingly. "No, not at all. I'm not with your local police; I'm working a different case." He pulled out his laminated SI badge and handed it to her. "I think her death may be connected to three other supernatural murders in the area. I'm trying to find the person behind all of them."

Ran Mao tilted her head one way and the badge the other, examining it practically upside down before giving Ciel a small smile of acceptance and handing it back. "I hope you find that person, then."

Ciel nodded and returned his badge to his pocket. "Is Lau here by chance?" She nodded silently and looked to her right. "Would it be alright if I had a few minutes alone with him?" The woman shrugged and stood, walking out silently. Ciel assumed she had gone to get him, but as the minutes passed, he was beginning to question that assumption. Maybe he was supposed to go hunt for Lau on his own? He still couldn't decide if Ran Mao was toying with him or just didn't speak much English. Antsy, he stood and examined the tapestries lining the wall to pass the time. He'd give her ten more minutes before he went back out and tried to find Lau himself.

"Looking for me?" the man in question said from across the room.

Ciel whipped around, wondering how he'd gotten in. One of the tapestries in the back corner fluttered gently as if blown on by a heater. _Or hanging in front of a hidden office door._ _That must have been what Ran Mao was looking at_ , Ciel realized, eyeing Lau suspiciously. He refused to trust a man with hidden rooms on principle. "So, Tai-Lee."

Lau lifted one hand airily. "Tai-Lee."

"You didn't mention you were dating her."

"I didn't say I wasn't," Lau countered easily, flinging himself down onto a cushion accurately despite his eyes being closed.

Ciel sat opposite him and leaned both arms on the table, hands folded in front of him. "You understand why that makes you look guilty, right?"

"Not really." Lau leaned in, propping one elbow on the table and resting his chin in his palm. His voluminous sleeve fell down to reveal the tail end of a stylized dragon tattoo. "Why don't you tell me?"

"People are most often killed by those closest to them. Dating her makes you suspect enough, but failing to mention it? That throws up red flags."

Lau laughed. "Yes it would, if you had ever _asked_. Did you expect me to pop out of the woodwork and announce 'Hey stranger, I'm Lau and my girlfriend was murdered. Pass the sugar.'? It's not like you introduced yourself as a detective and interrogated me or anything."

Ciel frowned. "I suppose not," he allowed, relaxing a bit. "So, Tai-Lee was your girlfriend," Ciel prompted. Lau hummed in agreement. "Do you have any idea who would want to hurt her?"

"Can't say I do," Lau drawled airily, eyes still casually closed.

"You don't seem particularly concerned."

"Should I be?"

"Your girlfriend was _murdered_ , so _yes_ , I rather think you should."

"And I think you should take Ran Mao up on her purple star reading."

"W-what?" Ciel stammered. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Lau shrugged, folding his arms in his sleeves. "I thought we were stating opinions."

Ciel fought the urge to rub his aching temples. "No, we're talking about your dead girlfriend."

"Pity. I liked the other way better."

Ciel let out a small frustrated sound. "Can you be serious for ten seconds?"

"Unlikely, but I'll try."

The Were ground his teeth together and trudged valiantly on. "Someone murdered Tai-Lee and three other people. I am trying to find the killer before anyone else dies, so if you could _please_ concentrate?" Lau tilted his head in consideration but didn't say anything. Ciel took it as agreement. "Thank you." He pulled out his phone and slid it across the table to show Lau a collage of the victims. "Do you know if Tai-Lee had any connections to these people?"

Hands still in his robes, Lau bent down to examine the pictures. Ciel caught the barest gleam of his eyes opening before they closed again. With another shrug he sat back up and said, "I don't know. I don't recognize them. She could have."

Ciel pulled the phone back. "So, to recap: you don't know if she knew any other victims, you don't know if anyone wanted to hurt her, and you don't really care?"

"Sounds like you got it," Lau noted happily. "Though if you ask me, you're looking in the wrong place."

"What do you mean?"

Lau's eyes cracked halfway open, cinnamon irises boring uncomfortably into Ciel. "I won't bother telling you that I'm not your killer; you'll figure that out on your own soon enough. What I will tell you is that you shouldn't be looking at the odd man out. Concentrate on the werewolves."

Ciel swallowed uncomfortably, fighting to maintain eye contact. "How did you know the other three were werewolves if you didn't know them?"

Lau's intense gaze thankfully abated as he closed his eyes and shrugged, back to his normal air of unhelpful disinterest. "It's a small town, you know. I know three werewolves died but I never met them myself."

"M'hm," Ciel hummed, unconvinced. He gave Lau another once-over before deciding that he'd done all he could here. "Well, thanks for your … help."

Lau waved a hand dismissively. "Any time, any time. I see you also took my advice with your friend and got laid, so good on you."

"W-what!" Ciel sputtered, pausing in his motion to get up.

Lau nodded sagely. "Yes … You're much less constipated-looking. Your version of happy, maybe?"

The Were's mouth hung open stupidly for a second before he snatched his coat and resumed his course toward the door. "Good- _bye_!" he snapped. Lau's laughter followed him out into the shop, cut off abruptly when Ciel slammed the door behind him. He didn't see Ran Mao anywhere, which was probably for the best. He didn't know how many more social niceties he had left in him today.

Ciel continued his angry stomp-march out to his car and paused when movement caught at the corner of his eye. He whipped around to stare at the tree line. Nothing moved. He was about to write it off as a trick of the light when it happened again. Something tall and white flickered between the tightly packed boughs. He could feel the prickle of eyes on him; a primal lizard brain warning that he was being watched. Squinting, Ciel shrugged on his coat, tucked his keys back into his pocket, and walked toward it, trying to figure out what could be so large and thin. Certainly not an animal. Whatever it was saw him approaching and retreated, making Ciel break into a jog to chase it. "Hey!" he shouted, catching a glimpse of a turning head when he called out. _A person, then. Someone dressed in all white_. "Hey, wait! Who are you?" Whoever it was was not faster than a werewolf, that was for certain. Ciel poured on the speed and was within clear sight quickly. Tall, thin, male, white snow suit, longish white-blonde hair. "Aleistor?" he called. The figure stumbled a step but kept running. Ciel's eyes narrowed. What was Aleistor doing out –

It was dark.

Ciel blinked up at the sky from flat on his back. Scratch that: not dark, just darker than it should have been. He sat up, putting a hand to his head and dislodging a thin layer of dirt and debris. It was late afternoon and he had _no_ idea what had happened. One second he was chasing someone (Aleistor?) and the next he was waking up in a dirty, snowy ditch. He glanced down to take inventory of himself and let out a disgusted "Ugh!" at his blood-covered front. There was a large splatter across his chest that looked like the result of a shotgun. Gross. Ciel prodded at his clothing enough to tell that his injuries were mostly healed, if still a little tender.

Stumbling to his feet, he looked around. Clearly, whoever shot him had realized their mistake and pushed him into a ditch to cover it up. _Real nice, asshole_ , he groused internally. He hoped they hadn't moved him too far from his car. A quick look around told him absolutely nothing. He didn't see any footprints or familiar landmarks and didn't hear the highway. Snarling, he put the setting sun to his right and headed south. He had chased Mr. Snow Suit north and knew he'd eventually hit the road if they hadn't moved him too far.

He pulled his phone out as he walked, completely unsurprised to find ten increasingly worried text messages from Sebastian. Reluctantly, he pressed **CALL** , not looking forward to the anxious shouting that would undoubtedly greet him.

The phone gave barely half a ring before it was picked up. "Where are you." Not a question, a demand.

Ciel sighed. "In the woods."

"I've been looking all over for you. What happened?"

"I … honestly don't know. I think I got shot," Ciel mused, absentmindedly fingering his holey coat and tromping through the patchy snow slowly so he didn't twist his ankle on hidden roots or stones.

There was a long pause before Sebastian asked unnecessarily, "But you're okay?" Worry poured out over the line.

"Yeah, yeah, fine. A little sore, but I'll be okay. I saw someone outside Lau's and chased them into the woods. Then BOOM – next thing I know I'm waking up in a ditch."

"Shit."

"You know, I think that's the first time I've heard you curse outside of sex," Ciel noted with amusement.

"The situation warrants it."

Ciel snickered. "Kind of does, doesn't it?" He walked in silence for a while before muttering, "Where's the damn road, anyway?"

"Where are you? I'll come get you."

"Uh, _in the woods_ ," he answered scornfully, looking around for anything that would tell him where he was. "I don't know. It's not like they left me with a note."

Sebastian hummed. "Does your phone have GPS?"

"Maybe?" He felt kind of stupid for not thinking of that himself. He jabbed at his screen sourly, equal parts relieved and embarrassed when a little map pulled up. His orange dot was pretty far away from any landmark but fairly close to the road he had been aiming for. "Yeah, I'm a little north of Highway 11, forty miles east of town. Go get my truck from Lau's and drive toward Toronto. I have some extra keys in my cabin. By the time you do that I should have made it to the road."

"Ciel, did you see who –"

"Less talkie, more walkie. I'll answer your questions in the car." With that, he hung up. Hopefully it would motivate Sebastian to come get him quicker.

Ciel had reached the road and walked maybe half a mile back toward town when he heard the familiar rumble of his trusty truck. True, it had never made that particular whine while he was driving, but he also tended to keep the speed within an arguable distance of the posted limit. Sebastian sped toward him like a bat out of hell, almost making Ciel fear for his safety when the madman veered onto the shoulder just past him. He tensed up, not surprised at all when a door whipped open and he was smothered in the familiar scent of musk and spices. He patted Sebastian's side lamely. "There we go. Let it all out."

"Brat," the vampire muttered fondly into his hair, not relaxing his grip one iota.

Ciel squeezed him once in reassurance before demanding: "Home. Now." He almost barfed when a swirl of motion left him belted into the passenger seat of the cab, head spinning from disrupted equilibrium. He pressed a hand to his mouth, feeling distinctly green. "Damnit, you beast! I wanted you to bring the car so you wouldn't manhandle me like that." He didn't even want to think about how sick he'd be if Sebastian tried to carry him the whole way home at speed.

"Saves time," Sebastian stated simply.

"Not if you have to stop to clean sick out of my upholstery. For future reference, I hate being flung around at light speed almost as much as I hate getting bitten. Which reminds me, did you feed?" Sebastian nodded silently. "Well, that's something at least. Glad we both didn't waste our days."

"So, nothing helpful from Lau, then?" Read: _He wasn't the one who shot you and thus gets to keep all his fingers?_

Ciel shook his head, still feeling lightheaded. "No. He was dating Tai-Lee, but they didn't seem too serious. His employee looked surprised when I suggested he had anything to do with her death and honestly I don't think he did it either." Ciel watched trees flash by as Sebastian zoomed them back to town. After a moment of thought he added, "He did say something weird, though."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. He told me I was looking in the wrong place."

Sebastian hummed thoughtfully. "Any idea what he meant?"

Ciel shook his head, trying and failing to come up with an explanation. "None whatsoever." He picked at a rip in his jeans, thinking. He drew a deep breath and braced himself for the potentially explosive response he was about to receive. "And to answer your earlier question, I was following Aleistor."

"Aleistor?" Sebastian looked over sharply. The truck stayed straight in its lane despite his apparent inattention.

"Yeah."

"Aleistor Chamber?"

" _Yes,_ Sebastian, that Aleistor."

"Aleistor shot you?" he practically growled.

Ciel rolled his eyes. "No. At least, I don't think so. Like I said, I was chasing him but he definitely didn't have a shotgun in his hand and I don't remember him stopping to shoot me."

Sebastian examined Ciel carefully, his immediate hunt-find-kill urge dying down at the Were's confused tone. "Could you have forgotten? Don't give me that look; there is such a thing as 'trauma amnesia' and getting killed is as traumatic as it gets, whether you come back or not."

"Thanks, Doctor Sebastian," Ciel sighed. "I won't say that's not possible, but I don't think so. You remember what he was like. I really can't picture that squealing buffoon trying to murder anyone."

Sebastian frowned. "But he was out there. You did see his face, right?"

Ciel hesitated, replaying the morning's activities in his mind. _Now that he mentions it …_ "No," Ciel grudgingly admitted, "but he was the right size and shape with an all-white outfit and light hair. Who else could it be?"

Sebastian hummed. "It is suspicious that he happened to be lurking in woods near you, but if he didn't shoot you, then …" the vampire trailed off thoughtfully. "I wonder what he was doing out there."

\---

"This was not what I intended," Sebastian grumbled, folding his arms.

"Clearly." Ciel looked from Sebastian to the gaudy gold door, shiny even in dim light. He couldn't help his grin. "Care to do the honors?" They didn't want to tip their hand in case Aleistor was behind his attempted murder, so Sebastian was going to interview him alone while Ciel watched from outside – a situation the little Were took an unexpectedly large delight in.

With a visible shudder, Sebastian pressed the doorbell. He stood stiffly in front of it while Ciel hid off to one side. When it swung open, the vampire did an impressive imitation of a smile.

"Welcome!" Aleistor boomed dramatically, arms thrown wide, once again clad in white. Music spilled out into the early evening around him like his own personal soundtrack. The only thing missing was a flock of doves. "Oh! Detective! I had no idea you'd be stopping by."

"Excuse me for dropping in uninvited."

"Not at all, not at all! Come in!" Sebastian was grabbed by the arm and hauled inside – or, let himself be hauled inside as was more accurate. Wild horses would be incapable of moving the vampire if he did not want to be moved, as Ciel well knew. He peered into the nearest floor-to-ceiling window, keeping his body as hidden as best he could behind a concrete pylon. Aleistor led Sebastian into the living room and sat next to him on the sofa. Ciel listened with entirely too much amusement as Aleistor blatantly flirted and preened as Sebastian led him through small talk. It would have been better if a window had been cracked, but Ciel could hear well enough though these thin panes.

"I do hope I didn't interrupt anything," Sebastian offered when there was a lull.

"Oh, no. Nothing at all, my dear fellow!" Aleistor patted Sebastian's knee and boldly left his hand there.

"Just a quiet day in?"

Aleistor laughed high and bright, entirely too loudly in Ciel's opinion. "Look at you, all interested in me," he teased playfully. "For the most part, yes. I had a _lovely_ late brunch at the Lodge and spent the afternoon relaxing with this truly _divine_ opera we are listening to now."

"The Lodge?" Sebastian asked, latching on to the possible alibi.

"M'hm. Quaint little wooden cabin-thing a few miles southeast of here? I'm sure you've seen it; it's the only restaurant for miles. Their Breakfast Special is to _die_ for, but it's a bear of a struggle to get a proper mimosa around here." He leaned in conspiratorially and Ciel had to struggle to hear him add. "Just don't go after lunch. It's completely overrun with you-know-whats."

Ciel bristled at being called a _you-know-what_ , but Sebastian stayed on topic. "I see. So you always leave just after lunch?"

Aleistor nodded happily, pleased Sebastian was taking his advice. "Definitely. A few of those nocturnal types rise early enough for lunch, but the real problem happens after sunset." Cue the dramatic shudder.

"How … illuminating." Sebastian gently but firmly removed Aleistor's hand from his knee and stood. "Thank you for this enthralling conversation, but I'm afraid I must get going."

"So soon!?" Aleistor popped to his feet. "But you just got here. We could – that is, I was about to … dinner?" he stammered hopefully.

"Thank you, but no. I'm not hungry." Sebastian inclined his head and took two more steps toward the door before his wrist was caught.

"I'm not either," Aleistor added quickly.

"Well, then. Neither one of us has a need for food, now do we?" Sebastian noted with false cheer, quickly extricating his trapped appendage and heading once more toward the door.

"Please!" Aleistor blurted. "We could … talk?"

Sebastian paused, let out a little sigh, and turned around. He sat his hands on Aleistor's shoulders and looked him square in the eye. "Mister Chamber, you are a very attractive man. Under different circumstances I would be tempted by your invitation, however I am in a committed relationship and you are a person related to my current case. I appreciate your help and friendly company, but I cannot cross that line with you."

Aleistor's lower lip trembled and he placed his hands over Sebastian's. "You beautiful, noble man, living by such an inspiring code of honor! It is truly a sight to behold!" He struck a dramatic pose as he laid his drivel on thick, making Ciel groan and tune him out. Once again, they had been forced to suffer through this torture to rule Aleistor out, making Ciel more than ready to excuse him from any future consideration rather than go through it a third time. He headed down to the car to wait on Sebastian, feeling it may take him a while to extract himself from that mess.

"So, not our shooter," Ciel said by way of greeting when Sebastian joined him in the truck's cab.

Sebastian made a displeased face and smoothed his jacket front down repeatedly as if wiping the crazy off of it. "Apparently not, though I do think we should corroborate his alibi before ruling him out completely."

"Fine by me. I could use a steak to build my red blood cells back up, anyway." Ciel had settled himself behind the wheel and held out his hand for the keys. After a brief, silent conversation carried out entirely through pointed looks and mild facial expressions, the vampire forked them over. Ciel adjusted everything to his liking and carefully navigated down Aleistor's winding drive.

"You do know that's unnecessary, right?" Sebastian pointed out. "If our connection can heal gaping holes, it's more than capable of replenishing your blood supply without dietary assistance."

Ciel made a face at the road, unable to take his eyes off it to roll them properly. "Shut up. I want a steak." Sebastian smirked out the window in silence until the Lodge came into view. They climbed out and trudged through the slush of the dark parking lot toward the door. "I wonder if Lizzy is working today," Ciel mused. It would be much easier to get what he needed out of her than someone else.

"She is," Sebastian answered, pulling the heavy wooden door open for his smaller companion.

Ciel hummed an acknowledgement and headed straight to be bar where Lizzy could usually be found flitting around. His brief scan of the area found her cashing out multiple tickets across the room. She smiled at them and gestured that she'd be with them in a moment. Ciel waved her off, telling her to take her time. From the heavy-but-thinning crowd, they had caught the tail end of the dinner rush and things would slow down soon, leaving plenty of time for talking. He pulled Sebastian to the unoccupied end of the bar and sat, waiting patiently. The clatter of plates being stacked filled the room, counterpointed by loud conversations and the constantly-swinging door. Slowly but surely, the bulk of patrons filed out. A few stragglers nursed a beer at the bar or prodded one last slice of pie when Lizzy turned her attention to them.

"Whew! I've never seen a Monday night so busy!" Lizzy exclaimed by way of greeting. What can I get you guys?"

"Coke and a Steak Special for me. Sebastian?"

"I'm all filled up, but a coffee would be marvelous," the vampire said with a wink. Lizzy giggled at his attention and went to put their order in. Ciel shot him a look and Sebastian shrugged as if to say _I can't help it_.

"One Coca-Cola and an extra hot black coffee," Lizzy said upon return, sliding the cups toward their new owners.

"Tha–" Ciel's automatic response cut off as he caught sight of the thick white bandage over Lizzy's left wrist. "What happened there?"

She followed his pointing finger and put her other hand over it. "Oh! That." She shared an uncertain look with Sebastian. "Just, you know, restaurant stuff."

Ciel's head turned slowly to give his companion a disbelieving look. "You ate _Lizzy_?" he hissed.

Sebastian huffed. "Please. It was just a few drops."

"You _ate_ Lizzy!" he accused in a whisper shout. "That is not cool."

Lizzy snapped her fingers between them to break up their discussion before it could turn into a fight. "Hey! I'm standing _right here_ and I say I'm okay with it. He didn't even ask me, I offered, so cool your jets." She stared Ciel down, hands on her hips before turning her gaze to Sebastian. "And you – you should have warned him."

"I did," Sebastian protested, looking her in the eye.

"Did not," Ciel countered petulantly out the side of his mouth.

"Did _so_ ," Sebastian maintained insistently, turning to look at the Were.

"Um, most emphatically did _not_ ," Ciel rebutted, finally glancing back at the vampire.

"I explicitly stated 'I hope you don't mind I fed on your girlfriend' while driving you home from the woods today." He arched a black brow pointedly, daring the smaller man to argue.

Ciel rolled his eyes and threw up his hands. "Well, there's your problem! I got shot, dug my way out of a shallow grave, hiked through miles of forest, and was slung around by a supernatural centrifuge. How do you expect me to remember anything while exhausted and trying not to barf?"

" _What!_ " Lizzy shrieked, drawing all eyes in the building to her. She immediately flushed scarlet and waved a hand to let the other patrons know things were okay. Once most of the attention was off her, she leaned in and whispered, "You got _shot_ today?"

"And pushed into a ditch," Ciel confirmed sourly. "Rude."

Emerald eyes flicked back and forth between Sebastian and Ciel. "Does this have anything to do with the other murders?"

Ciel bounced his head side-to-side in a show of thoughtfulness as he hummed. "Seeing as I'm a werewolf and a whole bunch of us are getting murdered here right now, I'd say yeah, probably."

Lizzy thudded most of her weight onto the bar, leaning heavily on her forearms. "Holy _cow_! How'd you even _survive_ that?" She peeled the bandage off her wrist to show healed but still-red teeth marks on her pale flesh. "It's been hours since Dracula bit me and I'm still not back to normal."

Ciel and Sebastian shared a look. "It's … a long story," Ciel said, not wanting to explain their unique dynamic. "I'm very hard to kill."

Lizzy snorted. "You don't say."

"Oh, look. She's a female version of you," Sebastian noted with amusement.

"Shut it," Ciel grumped. "We do actually have a reason for being here. Do you remember Aleistor Chamber?"

"Hard to forget him. He was just in here today."

"Are you sure?" Ciel asked.

"Again, hard to forget him. He always throws a fit when I remind him we don't serve alcohol until after noon and makes me get my manager. With as many times as he comes in, you think he'd get the picture."

"Wait – he was here before lunch?"

"Just barely. He showed up right after eleven and stuck around until noon to get his freaking drink – then a bit longer to gripe about anyone he thought was supernatural. The normals thought he was crazy and he didn't get a one of them right, the poor bigoted idiot. He'd really have a conniption if I changed on him one day," she noted with a smirk, clearly picturing it.

Ciel barked a laugh. "I bet he would. Just don't do it until this serial killer business is cleared up, okay?"

" _Obviously_. I may not be a super investigator like you guys are, but I'm not stupid." She rolled her eyes. "Why are you asking about _him_ , anyway? I already told you he's not your guy."

"Yeah, we're beginning to see that," Ciel muttered into his drink. "But if not him, then who?"

The three were silent for a moment. Lizzy excused herself to refill drinks and deliver Ciel's steak as she thought about it. "Okay, I get off in two hours. Why don't you hang out here and we'll caravan back to my place to work out a plan?"

"Cara– what?" Ciel sputtered. "Why would we do that?"

"Well, it's the closest, isn't it? We'll map things out CSI-style and brainstorm."

Ciel honestly had no idea where Lizzy lived and didn't care to find out. "That's … generous of you. Really. But we're just going to head home–"

"Oh, no you don't! You two are _not_ waltzing in here to use me whenever you feel like it and then excluding me from the action. If you want my help, you're going to actually _let_ me help or you can find yourself another fount of local knowledge." She crossed her arms and stared them down.

"It's not that we don't trust you," Sebastian explained consolingly, "what we do is simply very dangerous and we'd never forgive ourselves if –"

"If I got hurt?" Lizzy guessed, laying her derision on thick. She jammed a finger into Sebastian's stony chest as she spoke: "You listen here. I'm not some glass flower who's going to sit on a shelf while the big, tough men do all the work. From what you've said, I'm already in danger whether I help you or not and given the choice of catching the bad guy or cowering at home hoping he doesn't find me, I'd go out and get the bastard every time. So, are you done being stupid or do I need to start ignoring you?"

Ciel muttered something that sounded like agreement and turned his attention to his very interesting plate of food, leaving Sebastian to deal with Lizzy on his own. "Our apologies. We would be grateful for any assistance you could provide," the vampire said smoothly.

"Damn right," Lizzy stated with a sniff. "Eat up. Flag me down if you need a refill. I'm going to see if I can start my cleanup early to get us out of here a little quicker."


	5. Marching Orders

Ciel felt like he was on the set of _CSI: Barbie_. Everything in Lizzy's little wooden house was pink or white or gold and covered in various combinations of lace and flowers. She had seated them at a round white table and insisted on providing them with refreshments before darting off to change and dig up planning supplies.

Ciel munched on a pink shortbread seashell and checked that she was truly gone before asking, "Remind me why we're here again?"

"Because we need her help."

Ciel hummed thoughtfully, murdering a mint green shell next. "Are you certain? Can't you do this without her?"

"Possibly. Likely, even, if you're not too picky about the 'hows' and 'whos' of it," Sebastian offered with a toothy grin.

Ciel snorted as he was reminded exactly why he didn't want to vampire to run off and 'solve' this on his own. The damn creature would probably torment, torture, and/or outright murder half the town without blinking and expect praise for a job well done. "Let's save that for a backup plan, yeah?"

Sebastian shrugged and lifted one of Lizzy's cookies to sniff it. "If that's what you truly want. I don't understand why you're so determined to do everything by yourself."

Ciel ground his teeth. "Um, how about because some bastard _shot_ me and I don't let anyone get away with that." And he would be damned if he was going to turn tail and run the moment someone threatened his home. It may be a stupid territorial werewolf urge, but protecting his territory seemed like a pretty good motivator.

"Revenge. I can get behind that," Sebastian mused, nibbling on the edge of the cookie.

Ciel rolled his eyes and drained his teacup. He was relieved to hear rustling coming from the hall, heralding Lizzy's return. He was honestly surprised by how much _stuff_ she had upon arrival and hastily scooted the cookie plate out of the way to make room.

"Thanks," she said as she laid down her load. Lizzy had traded her work clothes for an oversized pink pullover and white sweatpants, hair now tied up in a messy knot atop her head. She made short work of organizing her supplies. They had sheets of poster board, notebooks, pens, multi-colored markers and highlighters, glue sticks, and tiny computer print-outs of the victims' photos. "Sorry they're so small; I pulled them off a news site," she explained.

"Good god, did you rob an office supply store?" Ciel breathed, blinking at her pile of junk. "What are we going to _do_ with all this stuff?"

"Well, firstly …" she spread out the poster boards and glued each photo to the top center of one. "There. Now we have idea boards. I think we should look at each one of the victims individually and see if anything connects." She took a thick black marker and wrote each victim's name under his or her picture in neat, rounded print.

"That's …." _Antiquated. Juvenile._ Many words sprang to Ciel's mind but he didn't want to hurt her feelings. No way would writing things out in rainbow colors help.

"A really good idea," Sebastian finished for him, making Ciel toss him a disbelieving look. "Up to this point, we've been viewing the victims as a group and trying to find one big motive to fit them all," the vampire explained. "Looking at them individually might reveal smaller tangential connections we missed by trying to cram them all into the same box."

Ciel nodded with increasing speed as he adjusted his perspective. Instead of searching for one person who had a blanket reason to kill them all, they should look for chains of connection between individuals; there might be more than one killer or motive in play. "Yeah, yeah, okay. That _is_ a good idea." _Not that it requires markers and glue sticks, but whatever_.

Lizzy positively beamed. "Who do we want to start with?"

"Betty," Ciel said immediately. "We have the most info on her, some of it firsthand." Lizzy nodded and stacked the sheets into a neat pile with Betty on top. "I told you she was found behind my cabin, but what I didn't say was that I heard her out hiking the night before. Sebastian and I were in the woods on the full moon and we both heard a woman laughing and talking. If that was Betty, which I'm pretty sure it was as we found her body on that exact spot the next morning, then she wasn't out there alone. Since there was only one body and no one reported escaping an attack, we can safely assume that whoever she was with was the killer."

With a grim face, Lizzy added the note **– hiking with killer @ night** under Betty's name. "Alright. Maybe it was someone she knew? I mean, I sure wouldn't walk to the middle of nowhere at night with someone I didn't know."

"A good point," Sebastian agreed. "Perhaps that boyfriend of hers?"

Ciel almost slapped his forehead. "Marv! I completely forgot about Marv."

Lizzy gasped. "Betty and _Marv_!? No way."

"Unfortunately, way," Sebastian stated seriously.

Ciel nodded. "Marv and Azzurro both confirmed it when I talked to them at the Lodge a few days ago. Romantic partners are usually the culprit in murder cases."

Lizzy whistled low and long. "And I bet Azz wasn't happy about that with his cult doctrine against outsiders." Ciel gave his emphatic negative. With a squeak of marker, Lizzy added **– Marv (boyfriend!)** and **– Azzurro (Marv's angry Alpha)** to Betty's poster. "Good. What else?"

"For cause of death, she was tased and beaten," Sebastian offered. Lizzy pulled a face and dutifully added it. The three looked at each other and shared a round of shrugs.

"Okay, that's a start. We'll come back to her later." Lizzy slid Betty's poster off to the side to revel Tai-Lee. "I really don't know anything about this one at all." Sebastian shook his head as well.

"Well, she was a witch who worked for Lau," Ciel said. "She stupidly hit on Chamberpot –" Sebastian snickered at the nickname "–and was saved by his fortunate rejection. I believe her cause of death was … stabbing?"

Sebastian nodded. "I looked up all their autopsies when I broke into the hospital. She was stabbed."

Lizzy gave him a strange look at that but added **\- worked for Lau** , **\- hit on Chamber** , **\- stabbed** to Tai-Lee's sheet without comment.

"Oh! And she was Lau's girlfriend, too, according to the manager." _Gotta watch out for those pesky romantic entanglements._

Lizzy hummed and added it, waiting to make sure no one was going to add anything else before nodding and Sliding Tai-Lee into the "Done" pile with Betty. "And now Phil – Philip Darr, that is. He was a Grey Wolf and came into the Lodge with them every week, so I know a lot about him. He was one of the younger members, but really seemed to adhere to Azz's rules so I don't think he was had a secret girlfriend like Marv."

"They were in the same pack, though," Ciel pointed out. "Add that Marv and Azzurro were his packmates. That's a connection to Betty we should note."

Lizzy nodded and did as he said. "Okay. Hey! Wait a sec. You said Betty was murdered on the night of the full moon, right? The Grey Wolves usually run as a pack that night. It's, like, their big thing."

Ciel perked up, understanding instantly what she was getting at. "So both Marv and Azzurro should have been there and thus couldn't be killing Betty."

"Right!" Lizzy chirped, excited. "And Phil was already dead, so he definitely couldn't have done it." She pushed a pen and notepad to Ciel. "Make a note to check their alibis. If either one of them were absent, that person is probably Betty's killer!"

"Very good, Miss Elizabeth," Sebastian praised. "Now about Philip?"

"Right. That doesn't do anything to help us find his killer." She tapped the bottom of the marker against her lip. "He wasn't related to anyone in the pack but I think he worked at the police station with Azz." She jotted that down on his page. "What else?"

"You said he was young. How young, exactly?" Sebastian asked, squinting at the blurry printout.

"Um, I don't know. Like, early forties? I mean, that's still old, but young for the Grey Wolves."

Ciel snorted and Sebastian smirked. "Forty," the Were muttered.

"Practically ancient," Sebastian agreed playfully.

Lizzy puffed out her cheeks. "I'm not even going to try to guess how old you are but to kids like Ciel and me, forty is old," she argued.

"You might be surprised," Ciel said with a smirk, exchanging loaded glances with Sebastian.

"Whatever," she huffed, choosing to drop it since she clearly wasn't going to win this one. "Anything more on Phil?"

"Hmm. He worked at the police station, correct?" Sebastian asked.

"I _think_ so. Like, I'm ninety-percent certain."

"That may link him to Aleistor Chamber."

"What? How?"

"Mister Vanel complained that Aleistor inundates the police station with complaints about supernatural activity," Sebastian explained. "If Mister Darr was both a Grey Wolf _and_ a police officer, that's two points of contention with Aleistor."

Ciel was impressed with that connection but had to point out: "We've already ruled Aleistor out – _twice_. As much as I want him to be guilty, I don't think he did this."

Sebastian held up a finger. "We ruled him out for _some_ things. It is possible he or someone related to him have something to do with this. Unlikely, I'll admit, but we should list all possibilities now and cross them out later.

Lizzy firmly nodded her agreement and wrote **– Chamber (hated Grey Wolves, complained to cops)**.

"Fine," Ciel conceded. "We'll cross him out later. And Phil was shot, right?" Lizzy nodded and added it to the list. "Okay. Lots of connections on that one. Anything else?" All three gave the negative and Lizzy flipped Phil over to reveal their last victim, though first chronologically. "Chance, right?"

Lizzy hummed, face pinched. "Yeah. Connors. He wasn't a Grey Wolf and only came into the Lodge a few times. We never spoke so I don't know anything at all about him."

"He was a werewolf who was shot like Philip, though with a different kind of gun. That's all I know," Ciel added with a shrug and looked over at Sebastian, who shook his head. "I guess we know who we need to look into next, then." He jotted down a reminder to look into Chance Connors on his notepad.

Lizzy nodded her agreement and stacked Chance's poster with the others to reveal the stack of blank poster boards. Ciel was about to suggest calling it a night when Lizzy continued: "And let's not forget the fifth victim."

"Fifth?" Ciel asked, looking from her to Sebastian.

"Yeah, _you_ silly! Whoever shot you has to be related to all this," she said with a wave of her hand over their notes. "Unless you have some jilted girlfriend or secret arch-enemy you failed to mention, the only person who would want to kill you is the murderer – or one of them if there are multiple people." Leaving room to add a photo at the top later, she wrote **Ciel Phantomhive** across the paper in bold strokes. "What do you remember about your killer?"

Ciel blinked owlishly. He wanted to argue that he wasn't a victim, but whoever shot him had clearly intended for him to die. The fact that he survived was immaterial. "Okay," he uncomfortably allowed. "Not much unfortunately. I saw a man dressed in all white lurking outside Kong-Rong just before noon and followed him into the woods where someone shot me. I don't know if the man in white was the shooter or not, though. I thought it was Aleistor Chamber at first, but you're his alibi for today."

Lizzy hummed. "Wish I could say I was wrong, but he was one hundred percent at the Lodge then. Hey, Phil and Chance were shot with different calibers. Do you know if yours was one of them?"

Ciel internally kicked himself. _Stupid, stupid, stupid_. "No, I didn't even think of that. I was so distracted when I woke up that all I did was try to find my way out of the woods. The damage was big, though, really spread out like a shotgun blast."

"That is different," Sebastian noted. "Both the others were shot with handguns."

"Poop. Three gunshots, all with different guns," Lizzy said.

"Plus one blunt-force trauma and a stabbing. All five victims were killed differently," Ciel pointed out. "That's a bit strange for a serial killer, isn't it?"

"I concur," Sebastian said. "Using Occam's Razor, we can group the three shot men into one group and the two women into another. A murderous gun-lover may use multiple different firearms to hunt victims, but probably wouldn't devolve into primitive weapons like knives and baseball bats with easier methods available."

"That's a plausible assumption," Ciel allowed. "And I suppose it means you think the women were killed by a second person?"

"It is only logical. One killer who targets young werewolf men; another who targets attractive single females."

"This is a hell of a place to do either, though, isn't it?" Ciel asked. "There aren't that many people here. Why don't they go to a city where they have a wider selection and less chance of getting caught? It's what I'd do if I were looking for victims."

Sebastian _tutted_. "Criminals are rarely logical. You should know that more than anyone."

Ciel huffed and folded his arms. "True enough."

"What do you mean by that?" Lizzy asked suspiciously. She had been watching the exchange with silent interest up to that point.

Eyes widening in realization of how their words could sound to someone who didn't know them, Ciel practically shouted, "No! I'm not a – no." He dug out his badge when words failed him. "I'm law enforcement, not a criminal."

"Special investigations?" she asked, examining the official-looking document curiously. "Is this why you're up here? Looking into the murders?"

"No, not really." Ciel rubbed at the back of his neck. She eyed his fidgeting and Ciel heaved a great sigh of frustration. "I'm retired, okay? I just wanted to move to the middle of nowhere and get some damn peace and quiet but apparently that's never going to happen!" Scowling, he snatched his badge back and stuffed it into his pocket.

"That doesn't make any sense," she accused, her temper flaring to match his. "You're barely twenty. How could you even get that job, much less retire? I don't know what you're playing at, but you need to tell me the truth _right now_ or I'm calling the real cops." Worried creases had appeared between her brows and her body language was a curious mix of aggression and wariness. Ciel didn't blame her. Lizzy was obviously a smart cookie and his story barely added up at the best of times.

"Okay, okay." He rubbed his eyes, thinking of how to explain it. "I'm actually eighty-nine years old."

"Bullshit."

"Do you want the explanation or not?" He waited for her nod before continuing. "You know Sebastian's a vampire, right?"

"Oh my god, you're one too! Why'd you tell me you're a werewolf?"

"Again with the interrupting."

"Sorry."

"I _am_ a Were. I'm just a Were who's … trapped. It's a really long story, but we had a freak accident and I'm stuck halfway to being a vampire. I really am almost ninety and I really was the head of SI. You can call any division and check. Happy?"

She regarded him in cautious silence for a long moment.

"And I'm _not_ a murderer," he added with a pointed glare to Sebastian.

"You did murder Grell," Sebastian pointed out truthfully.

"Holy _fuck_ , Sebastian!" Ciel barked, throwing up his hands. "Seriously? That was seventy years ago and it's not helping."

Lizzy giggled unexpectedly, drawing their attention. "Sorry, I'm sorry. It's not funny. You two are just cute together." She licked her lips as she calmed down, looking from one to the other. "So, you're really telling the truth? You don't have anything to do with this?"

"Beyond being a victim? No."

She gave him one last once-over and nodded. "Okay. I believe you."

"Good. We don't have to kill her."

Ciel's bugged out of his head as he looked disbelievingly at Sebastian. "This. This is exactly why you have no friends. He's not being serious, Lizzy, I swear."

She waved him off, a small smile on her face. "It's okay." She shuffled the posters, lining them up in front of her and getting back to business. "Using Sebastian's theory that all three men were killed by the same person, we have Phil, Chance, and Ciel. You all have … well. The only thing you have in common is that you were shot." She frowned down at the posters. "And not even by the same gun."

"At the moment, yes. However, we currently have no information on Mister Connors," Sebastian pointed out.

"A good point," Lizzy agreed. "However, going on the information we _do_ have," she shuffled the posters again, "Betty was dating Marv, who was in Azzurro's pack with Phil. Even without knowing how Chance fits in, I think the pack connection trumps your suspected boys-versus-girls killer theory."

"Entirely possible," Sebastian allowed.

Lizzy capped her marker with a smug click. "So we'll focus on that, then."

"Right." Ciel looked down at his notes. "I'll talk to the Grey Wolves tomorrow to see if anyone was missing on the night of the full moon and find out some more info about Chance Connors."

"And I'll do the same at the Lodge. Someone has to know him, right? Hey, give me your phone and I'll put my number in so you don't have to come hunt me down to talk."

A staunch proponent of efficiency, Ciel passed over his phone without hesitation. Lizzy picked it up and blinked at it, weighing the heft of it in her hand and flipping it over curiously. Sensing an impending train of conversation he really didn't want to deal with at the moment, Ciel snatched it back and said, "On second thought, just tell me and I'll add it."

Lizzy recited her number, watching with interest as he put it in. "Is that a –"

"Yes, it's a phone. Yes, it's old. Yes, it still works. Moving _on_."

"He's a bit sensitive about technology," Sebastian whispered conspiratorially.

"I died today. Your argument is invalid for forty-eight hours."

"That makes no sense," Lizzy pointed out.

"Invalid."

"Just let him have it," Sebastian advised. "He gets like this when he's tired."

"And on that note, we're leaving." Ciel pushed to his feet and tore the page out of his notepad to put into his pocket. "Lizzy, really good job. I have no doubt you would have been my best employee."

She beamed up at him. "Thanks, Ciel!"

"You are surprisingly good at this," Sebastian agreed.

"Not to brag, but I _was_ head of the Activities Committee in both junior and high school. This is nothing compared planning a prom with two feuding groups of girls during final exams week when everyone's stressed about college applications." Ciel didn't know what to say to that, so he just nodded and hoped he looked impressed. "Anyway, I'll text you directions to the Grey Wolves' usual hangouts. You might want to hit them up while Azz is at work tomorrow so he doesn't influence their answers."

"Sound advice as always, Miss Elizabeth."

\---

"Where _is_ this place?" Ciel complained for the dozenth time as he watched the unending forest slowly slip by their truck. They had turned down a drive a few miles west of Druitt Hill and there seemed to be no end in sight.

"I would assume it's still at the end of this road, as it was half an hour ago."

"We've been driving forever."

"It just feels like forever because we're going slowly." At Ciel's rude noise, he offered, "If you're in a hurry, I could simply pull over and carry you on foot."

Ciel's gills greened at the thought. "On second thought, I really like this drive. It's nice to go slow."

"That's what I thought you'd say."

The Were pulled a truly immature face at him and took out his phone to pass the time. Almost on cue, a text popped up.

Lau: **figure it out yet**  
Ciel: **Why, want to confess?**  
Lau: **u kno it wasnt me**  
Ciel: **Says you.**  
Lau: **says u**  
Ciel: **Do you actually have something to say?**  
Lau: **do u evr listen**  
Ciel: **Just tell me.**  
Lau: **already did. u didnt listen**  
Ciel: **I don't understand.**

He stared at his screen, waiting, but no response came.

"Ciel?"

He looked up from his phone to see Sebastian's questioning look. With a shrug, he explained, "It's just Lau being weird. I feel like he's trying to tell me something but he won't come out and say it."

"What do you mean?"

"He keeps hinting that he told me something but I don't know what he's talking about."

The vampire hummed low in his throat, eyes on the road. "Maybe we should go see him when we're done here."

"I don't think that would help anything. He's annoyingly evasive."

Sebastian bared his teeth in an expression loosely resembling a smile. "I bet I could get answers out of him."

Ciel snorted. "I bet you could, but let's hold off on that until we're out of other ideas."

Sebastian breathed out a heavy breath of disagreement. "Do you even want to find this killer?"

"What? Of course I do!"

"Truly? Because it doesn't seem like it. You've done nothing but drag your feet, complain about being tired, and refuse to do anything that might result in progress."

"What are you _talking_ about?" Ciel demanded, blindsided. "I confronted Azzurro, followed his lead to Chamber – whom we interrogated _twice_ – interviewed Lau and his manager, and I got shot for my troubles. What more do you want?"

"You also complained so much on the way to Chamber's that we almost turned around and went home without speaking to him and spent that whole afternoon fooling around instead of following your lead with Lau. You tried to reject Lizzy's help even after going to her house and you just told me _not_ to get information out of Lau despite the fact you are convinced he knows something. You act like you're making a lot of progress, but you're really taking one step back for every two forward."

Ciel frowned. He didn't _feel_ like he was dragging his feet but he also didn't know Sebastian to lie. The man must be seeing something he was missing … or maybe he was just frustrated with his lack of control. Eyes widening in understanding, Ciel nodded. That was probably it; Sebastian was frustrated that Ciel wasn't letting him participate more. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to let the vampire have a bigger role in planning their investigation. "Okay, let's go talk to Lau."

"Ciel, that's not what I'm trying to say."

"I know and I'm sorry. Don't look so surprised! I do know how to apologize. You're right and I'm going to let you have a bigger say in what we do from now on." Sebastian examined his face as if looking for something before simply nodding and turning his attention back to the narrow dirt path. For some reason he didn't look happy, but Ciel ignored his weirdness. He'd just given the man what he wanted; what more could he do? And freaking _finally_ the drive started widening and the trees thinned out to signal that they were approaching something.

"Pretty good crowd," Ciel noted, eyes roaming over the vehicles parked around a little cluster of buildings. He spared a moment to wonder when he'd started considering five cars to be a 'good crowd' before following Sebastian up to the main building. It was large and central, so he assumed it was the main one anyway.

A call of "Hey, you can't be here" greeted them as soon as the pushed open to door. Five men sat at a table, playing some sort of card game and a few more were clustered at the far end of the long room. The building was permeated with the scent of bacon, beer, and wolf musk. Ciel crinkled his nose and hoped he wouldn't have to be there for long.

For that purpose, he cut straight to the case and pulled out his SI badge. "The North American Queen says I can." The Weres on the far side of the room looked over at that announcement. "Your alpha has also requested my aid in finding your packmate's killer and promised you would give me your unconditional assistance."

One of the older Weres at the card table called out, "Kid's telling the truth. I heard him talking to Azz on Saturday. E'rry body play nice."

Ciel walked over to the speaker and Sebastian stood by the door, eyes roaming over the room's inhabitants.. "Thank you, Mister …?"

"Joe Parker, sir," the scruffy-faced balding man offered.

"Mister Parker," Ciel acknowledged with a nod. "Were you present at last week's full moon … gathering?" He wasn't sure what word they used or what exactly they did. His own pack growing up had full moon parties for the kids but nothing for the adults.

"Run. Yessir."

"Can you tell me exactly what you do during a 'run?'"

"Well, we, uh, _run_ ," Parker struggled to explain politely, thinking it was rather obvious. "We transform and run through the woods. Sometimes we'll hunt deer."

Ciel nodded. "And were you all present last week?"

The five at the card table looked at each other and across the room to the other group. "Yes, I think so," Parker finally said.

"Even the people who aren't here right now, like Azzurro and … Marv?"

Parker nodded instantly. "Yeah, definitely. We'd all notice if Azz weren't here. Saw Marv, too."

Ciel cast his eyes over the other card players, all of whom nodded. "And there's no chance they could have snuck off while you were in the woods?"

"Well, sure, I guess. For a little bit anyway, but they couldn't have gone far. Everyone was here for beers after. What does this have to do with Phil, anyway? He died weeks ago."

"Just trying to understand your group's dynamic," Ciel fibbed. "So tell me about Phil."

"Great guy," the dark-skinned one said.

"Best hunter I've ever seen," the short one added.

"Never bought his own beer," one with a gray ponytail groused. One of the others popped him on the back of his head. "What? We can only say nice things now that he's dead? Fine, he cooked some mean ribs."

"You had problems with Phil, Mister …?

"Jenkins. And no, I jus' wish the cheap bastard woulda brought his own booze every now and then. Didn't deserve to die for it, though."

Ciel hummed. "And he worked at the police station?"

"That's right," Parker said, resuming his role as unofficial spokesman. "Don't know anyone there who would want him dead either."

Ciel lifted his brows. "No one? No jealous coworker, no angry criminal, no spurned woman, _no one_?" he asked incredulously. Everyone had _someone_ who hated them for something, big or small. It was impossible not to.

Parker shrugged. "Not that he ever talked about. In case you missed it, there's not much going on up here. It ain't like Phil was doing some fancy Hollywood drugs bust every day or hunting down bigtime criminals. I think the highlight of their day down at the station is if they catch a speeder – and even then, they don't usually give out tickets, just a stern talkin'-to."

"I'd say four supernatural deaths in one month is a pretty big 'going on,'" Ciel pointed out.

Parker threw up a hand. "Well, yeah. But 'sides that …."

"Did any of you know Chance Connors?"

"He wuddn one of us," Jenkins snapped.

"He _was_ one of the victims," Ciel countered, staring the ponytailed man down. "Since finding his killer helps us find Phil's, I suggest you try to be helpful." Jenkins grumbled but looked down submissively. "Did anyone here know him or anything about him?" Ciel asked the room at large, making eye contact with as many of the men as possible.

"He was some kind of tweaker," one of the men on the far end of the room called. "Real twitchy, always looked like he was on some kind of drug."

"Yeah, I saw him at that Chinese place once – not that I went in!" the black man added.

"Lau's place? Kong-Rong?"

The man shrugged. "I guess, if that's what it's called."

Ciel exchanged a look with Sebastian. They would definitely have to visit Lau after this. "Okay, he went to Lau's and you think he was on drugs. What else?"

The Grey Wolves exchanged glances, shaking their heads. "We really don't know," Parker said. "He wasn't one of us and honestly I have no clue who you're talking about. I never met him myself."

He turned his gaze back to the black man. "What's your name?"

"Harold. Harold Armstrong, but everyone calls me Harry."

"Okay, Harry. When you were not in Kong-Rong, did you meet a waitress named Tai-Lee?"

Harry swallowed. "Maybe? I didn't really talk to 'em much."

"Alright, so what were you doing while you were not in the building, not talking to waitresses?"

"Man …" he drawled, fidgeting in his seat. In that moment, he looked more like a guilty teenager than a buff fifty-year-old man.

Ciel sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Look. I don't care about drugs or your club rules or anything else you think will get you in trouble. I'm just trying to stop a serial killer before he offs more of you. If it will make you feel better, we can step outside and talk in private."

Harry looked appropriately chastised. He stood immediately and led Ciel outside and away from the building. Sebastian could probably still hear them but he doubted the Wolves could. "Look I don't do drugs or anything –"

"I really don't care."

"I just don't want you thinking I'm some pathetic drugger like Chance, because I'm not." Ciel narrowed his eyes but nodded to keep the man talking. "I just went for the card readings."

"Card readings, like fortunetelling?"

"Yeah. Those witch girls really know their stuff."

"And what would they tell you?"

Harry scuffed his shoes in the dirt. "About my ex-wife and kids," he answered quietly. "They don't want me around no more but I still like to know how they're doing."

Ciel's expression softened. "And you're not supposed to go to Lau's because the witches are outsiders?" he guessed.

"Yeah. It's not as bad as dating them or something, but Azz doesn't like it and the other guys give me shit for it. They don't believe in all that magic stuff."

"So Tai-Lee?"

Harry shook his head. "I really don't know, man. She could have done one of my readings but I don't remember. I just remember seeing Chance there in one of those smoking pits and I don't know if he saw me or not."

Ciel nodded. "Thank you. That's actually very helpful."

Harry nodded and headed back inside. Sebastian passed him on the way out. "Are we done here?"

"Yeah. Did you get anything out of the others?" Sebastian smiled smugly. "Ugh, please tell me you didn't antagonize everyone?" The vampire put an innocent hand to his chest, giving Ciel a shocked look. The Were snorted and continued his one-sided conversation: "You know what, never mind. Let's just go to Lau's." The Chinese man had some serious explaining to do.


	6. Ghosts of the Past

"This is unexpected," Sebastian noted mildly, looking around the strange interior of Kong-Rong.

Ciel snorted at his understatement, wincing slightly as today's selection of electronic trash assaulted his ears. Honestly, were they _trying_ to drive away business or was everyone here simply too drugged to notice?

"Purple Star?" Ran Mao said in greeting, seemingly appearing right in front of Ciel who jumped slightly. Sebastian's eyebrows rose in question and he looked over to Ciel, suddenly very conscious of his marked left hand.

"No, thank you. We need to speak to Lau." Ran Mao shook her head, making the little bells in her hair jingle. "What do you mean, no? Is he not here?"

"You know he is," she murmured in her surprisingly soft contralto.

"Yes, and I'd very much like to speak to him," Ciel explained, only to have her shake her head.

Sensing the smaller man's frustration, Sebastian offered a polite, "We can wait if he's busy."

Ran Mao tilted her head, looped braids dangling as she looked up at him. "You don't need to wait. I can take you to him if you want, but you can't talk."

Ciel's brows furrowed. He exchanged glances with an equally confused Sebastian before nodding silently and wondering why they weren't supposed to talk. Ran Mao led them between the curtained partitions to the cozy back room he was in yesterday. _Christ – just yesterday? It feels like forever ago._ She gestured at the low table and closed the door on her way out. Ciel gamely played along, settling on one of the plush teal cushions to wait.

Sebastian looked around the room with interest, idly examining all the silk hangings, potted flowers, and delicate lanterns before sitting. After a few minutes of silence he broke the no-talking rule by asking, "Think she'll be long?"

Ciel snorted. "Who knows? I'm halfway convinced she enjoys jerking me around as much as Lau does."

Sebastian hummed and drummed his fingertips on the table. "It certainly feels like they're hiding something."

"You think?" Tired of this game, Ciel pushed to his feet and marched across the room to the fluttering silk tapestry in the far corner. He whipped it to one side, intent on barging into Lau's office, only to come up short when he was met by a bare wall.

"Ciel?" Sebastian asked.

"I don't understand," he said, staring stupidly at the plaster. "It should be here."

 Sebastian walked over to stand behind him, running his eyes over the wall in an attempt to see what Ciel was upset about. "What should?"

"Lau's office." He pushed his hand against the wall disbelievingly. Ciel examined the surface carefully, looking for secret catches or levers. "It's here; I know it is."

"There's nothing there, love," Sebastian said softly, his worried tone setting Ciel's nerves on edge.

"Shut up!" he snapped, frantically searching for any seams or paint edges to show that a doorway had been recently hidden. "I saw him come out of it yesterday."

Sebastian laid his large hands over Ciel's small ones, stilling their movements. "This is the side of the building. There's nothing back there except the outside."

Ciel half-turned to look up at Sebastian defensively. "I know what I saw, Sebastian."

Red eyes intense, Sebastian asked, "You saw Lau push aside _this cloth_ and enter the room?"

" _Ye_ –" he cut off his automatic response and frowned, admitting slowly, "Well, no." He thought back, trying to remember exactly what he had seen. "I was standing by the door over there and he appeared behind me. I saw this moving and thought it must have been how he came in."

Sebastian nodded, stepping back. Ciel's hands fell to his sides and they both looked around the room. "You're certain he didn't come in through the door?"

"Pretty sure, yeah," Ciel agreed, starting to doubt himself. Sebastian simply nodded and started lifting the other silk panels, running his eyes over the seams and floor as he made a circuit of the room. Ciel's shoulders fell when Sebastian checked the last one and shook his head.

"He must have already been in here," the vampire said matter-of-factly.

Ciel's eyes widened. _Of course! That's just the sort of thing that asshole would do. Probably some fucked up test to see how long my patience would last._ Scowling, he pulled out his phone and shot a disgruntled **Get your sorry ass out here and talk to me** text to Lau, fingers thumping loudly against the screen. He flopped angrily down onto a cushion to wait.

Lau: **u kno i cant**  
Ciel: **Cut the crap, Lau. Ran Mao said you're here.**  
Lau: **wut dos she kno**

Ciel fought the sudden urge to throw his phone, scream in rage, and tear Lau's head off. He swore Lau's spelling got worse every time they communicated, probably just to irk him. "'Not here' my ass," he spat at the device in his hand.

"Want me to go get him?" Sebastian offered.

Still seething, Ciel nodded. "Bring him back in one piece," he ordered. Ciel slapped his phone down on the table and folded his arms, glaring angrily at the stupid blue and white vase he'd memorized yesterday. He didn't trust himself to speak further. The vampire whisked out, leaving the door ajar. Before Ciel could even grumble about it, he was back empty-handed. Ciel's ashy brows rose almost to his hairline. "Don't tell me he got away."

Sebastian shook his head, face lightly puzzled. "No, he's not here."

Ciel sat up, uncrossing his arms. "What? Ran Mao helped him escape?"

"I don't think so. There's no trace of his scent and the other girl I asked hadn't seen him in weeks."

"Hm. Odd." Ciel's brows drew together as he stared at his blank phone. Something was … off. He spun the phone in a circle as he tried to decide what was bugging him. Sebastian made to speak and Ciel waved him off, gesturing for a moment of silence. Ran Mao had said he was here but they weren't allowed to talk. The other employee hadn't seen him for weeks. Sebastian didn't smell him at all. There were no secret rooms – _Wait._ Ciel's head snapped up to Sebastian. The vampire blinked at his sudden focus but didn't try to speak again. "How could you _possibly_ know what Lau smells like?"

"I've seen him around."

"You could pick up his scent from across the room?"

Sebastian paused before answering carefully, "I _could_."

"But _did_ you?" Ciel asked, catching his subtle inflection.

Sebastian's jaw tensed a few times as though he were struggling to pick the right words. "I spoke to him once or twice myself."

Ciel's dark blue eyes narrowed. _What's with all the tiptoeing around such a simple answer?_ He steepled his fingers under his chin, pinning Sebastian to the spot as he regarded him thoughtfully.

"Why don't we go talk to Ran Mao?" the vampire suggested suddenly.

 "Why don't you tell me exactly when you spoke to Lau?" Ciel countered.

Sebastian grimaced, obviously debating whether or not to tell the truth. At Ciel's expectant look, he admitted, "A few weeks ago."

"Weeks," Ciel repeated flatly, having expected such a response from Sebastian's reluctance. The vampire refused to meet his gaze. "You've been here for _weeks_ ," Ciel stated. Sebastian nodded when he let the statement hang. "You obviously didn't come to the middle of nowhere for no fucking reason, so why don't you tell me exactly what you've been doing here for _weeks_ when you only bothered to contact me a few days ago?"

Sebastian sighed and knelt down in front of Ciel to put them eye to eye. "You know why I came here."

"No, I really don't. Ten minutes ago I would have said you looked me up because you missed me but that's obviously not the case." Sebastian tried to take his hands but Ciel swatted him away. "Don't start. Tell me what you're really doing here." _I swear to fuck if you're involved in this –_ he thought heatedly, letting the threat cut off in his mind. He didn't know what he would do, but it wouldn't be pleasant.

Sebastian's fingers twitched as if he wanted to reach out again but he didn't. He settled for unwavering eye contact to convey his sincerity. "I really did come here to see you."

"Even though you thought I was dead?" Ciel asked archly, remembering Sebastian's excuse from earlier and just now noticing how it didn't add up. "Awfully coincidental."

"I didn't go looking for you –"

"So you _didn't_ come here to see me?" Ciel asked in mock surprise, brows raised. "You just said you did, though. How confusing."

"I didn't go _looking_ for you," Sebastian repeated doggedly, "you crossed my path and I followed you."

Ciel hummed. "So, you happened to see me in public and rather than speak to me you, what, stalked me like a creep?"

Sebastian grimaced. "I wanted to make sure it was you."

"Hm, clearly a mystery that couldn't have been solved with a simple conversation. And it took you how many weeks to determine that, exactly?" Sebastian looked away. "How _many_ , Sebastian?" Ciel demanded, not letting up.

"Eight," the vampire whispered.

Ciel gaped at him. "Eight weeks. Eight. Weeks. You've been stalking me for almost two entire _months_?" He thought back to all the times he thought he'd seen Sebastian only to do a double-take and find no one there. He had been mildly miffed that the man had waited so long to reach out after seeing him but now he was _furious_. Not only had Sebastian taken so long to make contact, his stupid appearing/disappearing act had driven Ciel half out of his mind and all but convinced him he was going mad. Even worse, Sebastian had probably been following him since Atlanta which meant he had seen … Ciel blanched. "You saw."

Sebastian could have played stupid but Ciel was upset enough with him already. He didn't want to make things worse. He nodded, placing a consoling hand on Ciel's knee which was immediately swatted off. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about."

Ciel scoffed so violently it hurt. "I had a full-fucking mental breakdown in Toronto," he spat acidly. "I lost my mind over self-driving cars and electronic billboards for god's sakes." _And Sebastian had seen it._ He rubbed his hand over his face, wishing the ground would swallow him up.

"Change is hard," Sebastian said consolingly.

"Not for you," Ciel muttered. He should have been pissed at Sebastian for stalking him – hell, he _was_ pissed at Sebastian for stalking him – but he was also mortified that the man had seen him unable to cope with the bustle of a modern city. He had spent one scant week in Toronto before all the lights and noise and technology got under his skin and he had had a panic attack in the middle of town like an absolute lunatic and been rushed to a hospital. It was beyond pathetic.

Sebastian took his hands and Ciel was too distracted to fight about it. "Change is _always_ hard, I just have a little more experience with it."

Ciel snorted. "Is that why it took you so long to reach out to me? 'Change is hard?' Or did you reconsider after watching me flip out?"

" _No_. Definitely not. I was … uncertain you would want to see me," the vampire admitted. "I had intended to do something grand and romantic –"

"Drama queen," Ciel muttered.

"– like moving into the apartment next to yours or showing up with armfuls of roses, but I saw how much you were struggling and didn't want to stress you even more. I followed you out here and decided to let you settle in a bit before barging back into your life."

"That was … strangely considerate of you," Ciel admitted. "Though I really wish you'd done a better job of hiding if you didn't want me to see you." Sebastian grinned sheepishly and Ciel felt the knot of worry in his chest loosen. "Why didn't you tell me?"

The vampire lifted one fine raven wing brow. "You mean so we could have had this delightful conversation earlier?"

Ciel pulled a face, not arguing. "Fair enough. You did drive me crazy, though."

"You were well on the way to that all on your own, but credit where credit is due, I suppose."

Ciel popped his shoulder with the back of one hand. "Ass."

"Does that mean I'm forgiven?"

The Were eyed him appraisingly and cautiously allowed, "So long as you're not connected to this mess, yes."

Sebastian huffed and gave an unamused look. "How many times are we going to go over this? No, I didn't kill anyone." At Ciel's critical look, he added with a rare show of frustration, "And I'm not otherwise involved, either. Happy?" The smaller man nodded once. "Good. I'm tired of repeating myself and don't want to go over this again."

"Anything else you've been hiding? Might as well get it all out now so we don't have to backtrack later."

Sebastian sighed. "Can't say I don't deserve that, but no. That's everything."

"Right," Ciel said with a note of finality. "We'll consider it closed, then." He drummed his fingers on the table as he got his mind back to business. "Since Lau's not here, I think we should talk to Ran Mao and find out what she's playing at."

"Allow me to fetch her for you."

"Gently!"

Sebastian gave one of his playful, romance-hero bows. "Of course. I would never treat a lady otherwise."

"You think you're smooth," Ciel muttered to his back.

In less than two minutes, Sebastian cordially ushered Ran Mao into the sitting room. "And there he is. Why don't you set up at the table?"

"What's going on?"

"I told Ran Mao that you were ready for her Purple Star reading, of course. Fascinating stuff."

"Sebastian," Ciel said in a low, warning tone.

The vampire leaned down to whisper in his ear, "You wanted gentle. It got her in here without suspicion and she's going to stay put for a while, so use this time wisely."

Ciel rolled his eyes and prepared to get stabbed. In his experience, witches loved stabbing him for some reason. He watched with interest as she set up her supplies, which seemed to be almost exclusively paper. He recognized a star chart and a blank gridded page and the tiny computer-tablet-screen-thing (fuck technology), none of which were pointy. She asked a series of date and time questions, not so much as blinking when he stated his birthday.

"Let's start with your love life."

"Let's not."

"Your destined love interest will be a smooth talker but you will have frequent miscommunications because both of you like talking and neither listens."

Sebastian raised his brows, impressed. Ciel rolled his eyes. She could have easily overheard that from the argument they just had. "How about Lau's love life? Since he's not here for me to ask him myself, maybe you could tell us more about his relationship with Tai Lee."

She regarded him seriously. "He loved her. She didn't love him. Simple."

"He didn't seem that concerned about her when I spoke to him."

She eyed him warily for a moment before explaining, "He didn't know. He was too trusting; it was tragic. Nothing can be changed now." She looked back down at her page, sad frown almost hidden by the angle. With a little shake, she went back to her reading, expression once again professional. "This is interesting: Tian Liang governs your Life Palace." At his blank face, she explained, "The Longevity star. It turns your misfortune into good fortune."

Again, no new news. He had just told her his birthday after all; it wouldn't take a genius to realize he was an exceptionally young looking 89-year-old.

"Oh, and your Health Palace is ruled by Zi Wei the Emperor himself! The purple star controls your body and heals your illnesses." At that, Ciel exchanged significant glances with Sebastian. That one was a little close for comfort. She tilted her head, eyes flicking back and forth over her page. "Those two don't play well, though." She blinked up at him curiously for a moment before reaching out to cradle his face in her soft hands. Ciel tensed instinctively but checked his urge to pull away. She gently tilted his head up and down, peering into his eyes and examining his hair. He had no idea what she was looking for, but she didn't seem pleased. "This is all wrong."

"What is?"

"You. You are wrong." She released him to sit back and stare with a disgruntled expression as if whatever had upset her was all his fault.

"Excuse me?" Ciel asked, equal parts offended and worried.

"You've died, but you haven't. You've healed, but you haven't. There's something wrong with you."

He breathed a sigh of relief. Anyone else would have been horribly confused by her explanation, but fortunately he knew exactly what she was trying to say. "Oh, that. I know."

"No you don't."

"I assure you, I really do."

"You don't because you _can't_ ," she insisted. "You can't exist like this."

"And yet, I do," he said, lifting his hands wide in a _here I am_ gesture. "I've been like this for almost seventy years. That's what, three of you? I'm perfectly alright."

" _Not_ alright," she insisted. "You need to be fixed."

"Well, unfortunately you don't get a say in this." He cut her off before she could continue arguing: "And I'm not going to talk about it. Tell me what you know about Chance Connors and we'll get out of your hair."

Her face puckered, sour about his rejection. "Chance came here to relax."

"Not only is that not helpful, it contradicts everyone else's statements. The Grey Wolves referred to him as 'twitchy' and a 'tweaker,' neither of which says 'relaxed.' Try again."

Her brown eyes flared with irritation. She slapped a dainty hand on the table. "You listen to me, broken werewolf! Chance came here to relax. He had problems with fast drugs and knew it so he came here to slow down. That's what we do: fix people."

"Fast drugs – stimulants? Cocaine, amphetamine?" She nodded. "And you slowed him down with?"

Ran Mao looked between Sebastian and Ciel, eventually deciding they wouldn't cause her trouble for telling the truth. "Morphine, mostly."

Ciel almost rolled his eyes. A real opium den disguised as a faux opium den. Did that even count as a disguise or just poor taste in design? He shook his head. "Okay. Chance came here for morphine. What else?"

"Nothing else. We calmed him down, taught him how to breathe, gave him the medicine. He wanted to slow down, so we helped." She started at him hard, as if willing him to break down and admit he needed help, too. He ignored it.

"So you, what, taught him meditation and sent him off on a guided drug trip without ever talking to him about anything else?" he asked scornfully.

"We got him off the fast drugs and taught him how to deal with stress so he wouldn't get back on," she snapped tightly. "He never said what was bothering him, just that he needed help dealing with it. He was almost ready to stop coming when he died." Her face fell a bit, sad about his passing. "He was nice. Didn't deserve what happened."

Ciel hummed thoughtfully. "Did Tai-Lee work with him?"

She lifted a dainty shoulder. "Sometimes. We all did."

"Was there any other connection between the two? Romantic, possibly? You said she didn't love Lau and Aleistor Chamber claims she flirted with him."

"The white man!" she hissed.

Ciel's brows rose in surprise, though he supposed he really should have expected it. Everyone hated that guy. "You knew him?"

Ran Mao practically vibrated with anger. "He's bad, full of hatred for people like us. Does everything he can to get rid of us."

Ciel hardly considered some half-assed phone calls to the local police station worry-worthy (especially when said police station was by all accounts mostly Were-run), but Chamber had clearly made an impression. "Does he come here often?"

"Not any more. He did until he got a reading he didn't like. He threatened to get us all sent away and left scary messages until we called the police on him. He never came back in, but he still harasses us in town."

"I see. And does he lurk around the property?"

Ran Mao blinked at him. "No, why?"

He shook his head. "No reason. Just checking." That settled it, then. He knew Chamber had a strong alibi for yesterday and this proved he had no history of lurking in the area despite his animosity. It was strange that he got shot by a different man in white while leaving, but he supposed it had to be coincidence – those _did_ happen after all. Maybe someone was trying to set Chamber up? He looked back over at Ran Mao to ask a follow-up question only to find she had snatched Sebastian's left hand and was attentively examining the black star on it. The tall man was half-hunched over at an awkward angle letting her have it. "Sebastian!" he scolded. He couldn't believe that asshole was encouraging her.

The vampire shrugged as if to say _What do you want me to do about it?_ The little woman had latched onto his hand and there was no way to extricate himself without hurting her. She was tutting over his skin in muttered Chinese, clearly disapproving of the mark. "Messy western sorcery," she finally said in English. "Unnatural. Needs to be fixed."

 _Can she really do that?_ Ciel wondered. The idea of being fixed was … appealing. To be able to grow and age and change was a dream he'd all but given up on in the past few decades, but he'd just been shot and killed yesterday. This was the _worst_ possible time to regain mortality. Reluctantly, he firmly stated " _No_. We like it just the way it is." _Maybe I'll come back when this is all over, though._ He met Sebastian's warm gaze and added: _Or … maybe not._ It would be silly to give up eternal life when he finally found someone to spend it with. He immediately squashed that line of thought. Ciel refused to long-term plan for someone who had only walked back into his life five days ago.

" _If_ that's all," he said pointedly, rising to his feet.

Ran Mao grudgingly released Sebastian's hand and stood to whisper in his ear for a long moment. Ciel looked on with interest but didn't interrupt. The vampire seemed mildly surprised and nodded. Seemingly mollified by whatever had transpired, Ran Mao stepped back lightly and smiled. "Let us know if there's anything we can do to help," she said as a dismissal.

Ciel nodded his thanks before heading out, itching to ask Sebastian what she'd said. He sat impatiently behind the steering wheel, tapping his fingers on the cracking leather and glaring at the slow-moving vampire. He swore the creature dragged his feet just to irritate him. When Sebastian finally joined him in the cab, Ciel pounced. "What was that about?"

"What was what about?" he asked calmly.

"The whispering. _Obviously_."

Sebastian waved him off. "Just more of the same. She's convinced you need to be fixed."

Ciel made a rude noise. "Like that's going to happen." At Sebastian's silence, he glanced over. "What?"

"I didn't say anything," the vampire pointed out.

"Exactly. Do you think I am broken, too, then?" Ciel asked defensively.

"Of course not," Sebastian reassured, patting one of Ciel's hands. "She just wanted me to keep an eye on you."

"Psh, crazy bitch." He expected agreement but Sebastian was silent again. He looked thoughtful, making Ciel feel like he was missing something. He also knew that dragging things Sebastian didn't want to share out of him was akin to pulling teeth, so he put it on the backburner for now. The man was being unusually strange today and Ciel was determined to find out why.

"What now?" Sebastian asked.

Ciel dug in his pocket, pulling out a crumpled square of paper and unfolding it. "We talked to the Grey Wolves, got a tentative alibi for Azzurro and Marv, asked about Chance, and found out he might have had a connection to Tai-Lee."

"And that Tai-Lee was cheating on Lau," Sebastian added. Ciel tipped his head in acknowledgement and scribbled those points down on his page. He glanced at the dash clock. "It's after three. We could …" he lifted a hand, "I don't know, go check out the police station?"

Sebastian shook his head. "I think we've done enough today. You haven't eaten since breakfast. Why don't we go check in with Lizzy and get you some food; kill two birds with one stone?"

Ciel looked at the vampire skeptically, sensing an ulterior motive. Hadn't Sebastian just ragged on him about not doing enough to solve this? Cautiously, he allowed, "It's on the way. Might as well." He held his hand out for the keys.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive?"

Ciel's eyebrow quirked. "Are you sure you don't want to run alongside the car?" Sebastian slowly extended keys, which Ciel snatched. "You've driven all day. My turn. Unless you actually _do_ agree with Ran Mao and think I'll fall apart any second?" he challenged.

Sebastian gave a small laugh. "No, I'm absolutely certain that _won't_ happen, thank you very much."

Ciel cranked the truck to life and got her on the road. "Damn right."

\---

"What do you mean she's not here?" Ciel demanded.

"I mean, she's not here, kid!" the grumpy bald cook snapped, displeased to be stuck behind the bar despite the near absence of customers. "I don't know how to say it any clearer."

"When's she coming back?"

"What do I look like, her keeper? She said she had an emergency and left. Maybe she'll come back, maybe she won't. You gonna eat or not?"

"One Club sandwich and a bottle of water, to go," Sebastian interjected quickly, slapping money on the bar before Ciel could continue arguing. The overly-tanned man swiped it with a nod and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Sebastian!"

"Arguing with him is a waste of time. I've already texted Elizabeth. If she doesn't respond by the time your food is ready, we will go check on her house."

"We should go now."

The vampire pushed him gently down onto a stool. "It doesn't take long to make a cold sandwich and she wasn't dragged off kicking and screaming; she left on her own. She's likely dealing with a personal problem."

"Like, 'a supernatural serial killer' personal problem?"

"Like, 'a sudden menstruation' personal problem."

"Ick!" Ciel shouted, recoiling. That was definitely something he'd never thought about, especially in regards to Lizzy.

"Precisely. She would not appreciate you barging in on that, would she?"

"I wouldn't appreciate barging in on it, either," he muttered, relaxing a bit. Aside from the old couple drinking coffee in the corner and a man absorbed in his tablet, the restaurant was empty due to the awkward hour. Ciel drummed his fingers on the bar as he waited.

"Ciel," Sebastian said gently.

The Were looked up at his hesitant tone feeling like they were about to discuss something serious.

"Who is Lau? Really?" the vampire asked carefully.

The Were regarded Sebastian in pensive silence. His first thought was that Sebastian was jealous but that didn't really fit with his expression. Calm. Curious. Not suspicious. So, not accusing him of a fling. A genuine question, then: Who _is_ Lau, _really_? Ciel knew next to nothing about the flighty stranger who showed up randomly and always seemed to say precisely what he needed to hear without saying anything at all. Yes, he was helpful, but why was he in White River in the first place? It's an odd place for a Chinese native to choose and he sincerely doubted the man just threw a dart at a globe and ended up here.

"Yeah, good point. I really don't know," he admitted.

Sebastian frowned slightly in disbelief. "But you've talked to him, right?"

Ciel snorted. "I talk _at_ him. He talks around me. You've spoken to him yourself, I'm sure you know how he is."

"Not really. We only spoke briefly once about tea." He would have added _weeks ago_ , but didn't want to remind Ciel how long he'd truly been in town. The less fuel he added to that fire, the better.

"Lucky you."

Sebastian's phone chirped as the nameless cook returned to slap Ciel's doggy bag on the counter, forestalling any further conversation on the matter. Sebastian picked it up and headed for the door, Ciel falling into step beside him. "Lizzy has some news. We're meeting her at her house." He stopped in front of the truck and held out the bag. "Trade. I'll drive while you eat." Ciel handed over the keys with only the mildest of grumbles and quickly filled his empty stomach so he'd be ready for action when they arrived.

"Did she say what?" he asked between bites.

Sebastian shook his head. "Just that she had a lead."

"More than we got," Ciel said around a mouthful of food.

When they arrived at Lizzy's house, they were surprised to find her dining room wall transformed into a pseudo murder board. She'd taken down her pastel flower prints and taped up the victim profile posters. Ciel's now had a little photo like the others. She had also pinned up some smaller blank pages to the right titled "Suspects." Lizzy waved enthusiastically as they entered.

"You've been busy," Sebastian stated, appreciation apparent in his voice.

"Yeah," she agreed. "I was going to go back to work, but I already told Max I probably wouldn't be back, so I just came home and worked on this."

"Where'd you go?" Ciel asked, curiosity overpowering his potential ick factor. "We stopped by the Lodge before coming here."

"I saw your white man!" She pushed a small photo across the table to them. It was slightly blurry, but definitely showed the figure of a slender man dressed in all white. For some strange reason, Ciel was reminded of Ran Mao's hissed _white man_ when talking about Aleistor Chamber. He had assumed she meant white-skinned, but it's possible she was referring to his proclivity for white clothes. "That is him, right? The Man in White?" she asked when he didn't say anything.

"Hm, could be. I didn't get a good look to be honest." He passed the picture to Sebastian who examined it briefly and passed it back silently. He hadn't seen the Man in White at all so he had no opinion.

Lizzy looked a little putout, but taped it to one of the suspect sheets anyway, writing **Man in White?** underneath. "He was lurking around the Lodge today. Never came in, just stared in the windows from across the street like he was scoping out the place."

Ciel nodded thoughtfully until an idea clobbered him over the head. "Tell me you didn't try to follow him!" he demanded suddenly.

"Of course I did!" she shouted right back, going from 0 to 60 in the blink of an eye. "He shot you."

"Exactly! He _shot_ me. Why would you even think that was a good idea?"

"Um, because he's the killer and we're trying to _catch him_?"

"Damn it! You're not a part of this, Lizzy. You should have called me."

"Excuse you? I'm just as much a part of it as you are and I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you _very_ much. I snapped that photo from a distance, went out back and transformed. There's no way he could possibly know that dog was me."

Ciel rolled his eyes, practically dripping scorn. "Of course not. He's only killing werewolves; there's no way he'd suspect the cute blonde who disappeared could possibly be the golden retriever now mysteriously following him."

"Well at least I'm not the idiot who got shot!" There was a tense pause before Lizzy slapped a hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for."

Ciel's shoulders drooped, fight leaking away. "No, you're right, what I did was stupid. It's why I don't want you to make the same mistake. I can survive getting shot; you can't.

Lizzy sighed, looking down. "I shouldn't have shouted. I just get so mad when you treat me like a dumb kid."

Ciel waved her off. "It's okay. What'd you find out?"

"Not much, actually." She plopped down into a chair and stared at the photo crossly. "He just watched the Lodge for a while and ran off into the woods. I didn't want him to see me, so I stayed back too far and lost him."

"Which way did he go?" Ciel asked, eyes on the photo as well.

"Um, north, I think. That's the direction he started anyway."

"Hm, that's the same way the man I saw went. Coincidence?"

"The universe is rarely so lazy," Sebastian noted, stepping forward to add his calligraphic **North** under the photo.

"Well?" Ciel demanded when the vampire stepped back and continued his odd silence.

"'Well' what?"

"Got anything to add?"

"I believe just added the word 'north.'"

"Is there any particular reason you're being a jackass today?" the Were demanded, fed up with Sebastian's attitude. The vampire had accused him of not wanting to find the murderer, seemingly agreed with Ran Mao's opinion that he was broken, refused to tell him what she whispered, and gotten weirdly curious about his non-relationship with Lau. The whole time he had been excessively disagreeable – not to mention that awkward little oops-I-stalked-you-for-two-months-and-forgot-to-mention-it slipup that Ciel had totally _not_ forgotten about no matter how carefully Sebastian tiptoed around it.

"I wasn't aware I was. Perhaps someone is displacing his guilt?"

"Oh, shut up with your fake doctor jargon. I thought Lizzy was the one on her period."

"What!?" Lizzy squawked.

"Nothing. Never mind. Sebastian is just being weird today." The vampire leveled an inscrutable glance at him, which Ciel ignored. "We stopped by the address you gave us and talked to the men there. They were all pretty insistent that Azz and Marv were both accounted for miles away and virtually all night when Betty died. It's not airtight, but it's as good as we're getting, I think."

Lizzy nodded and grabbed a green marker to add **(alibi: Pack run)** next to the men's names on Betty's sheet. "And Chance?"

Ciel cast his eyes over to Sebastian, who seemed content with lurking silently in the corner, arms folded. Seeing no help incoming from that corner, he explained, "Yeah. Some of the Grey Wolves mentioned he was a drug user and saw him at Kong-Rong. It turns out Tai-Lee was helping him kick the habit."

Lizzy's face lit up at the new connection and she used a black marker to note Ciel's information on their two sheets.

"It sounded like he was running from something," Sebastian added, finally deciding to contribute. "Ran Mao said he refused to talk about whatever his problem was, but they were helping him deal with anxiety and stress in relation to his amphetamine issues."

Lizzy hummed and added **–running from something?** to Chance's sheet. She looked over all the new additions happily. "Okay, good! That's really good work, guys. Anything else?"

They thought for a minute before Sebastian added, "According to Ran Mao, Tai-Lee was cheating on Lau. She didn't say any names, so possibly multiple affairs?"

Lizzy diligently noted it on Tai-Lee's sheet. "Does that make Lau a suspect, then?"

"Well, he did run from us, so I'd say so," Ciel noted with ire, still mad about being duped.

"No."

Ciel turned to stare at Sebastian. "Um, yes. Even if he wasn't there today, Ran Mao was still jerking our chain for some reason, likely to cover for him somehow. Stop that, why are you shaking your head?"

"He couldn't have done it."

"Oh? And what's with this sudden change of heart? You've been suspicious of Lau for days. Don't tell me it was only jealousy after all?"

Sebastian sniffed dismissively. "Definitely not. He simply didn't do it; that's all." Sebastian looked pointedly at Lizzy, trying to convey something with his eyes. For the life of him, Ciel couldn't figure out what.

For one insane moment, Ciel felt like everyone around him was a pod person. The way Sebastian said that Lau couldn't have done it with such certainty reminded Ciel of Lau himself. Every time he questioned him, Lau told him that _he_ knew Lau was innocent. Even stranger, he did. He really did have this visceral certainty that Lau (and now Sebastian) were right. It's like a disease that was spreading.

Ciel slapped his hands over his face. "Stop it! Just – stop it!"

Lizzy gasped and Ciel heard the clatter of markers hitting the wooden floor. "Ciel! Sebastian, what's going on?" Her voice was close, as if she were hovering right over him, probably debating whether or not it was safe to touch him. "Does he need help?"

"Yes. But there's nothing we can do."

"What are you talking about?" Lizzy asked from further away.

"Don't listen to him, Lizzy," Ciel snapped.

"What's wrong? What's upsetting him?" she said, voice wavering with worry.

"He knows that Lau is innocent but he's fighting with how he knows." Ciel flinched at the words, drawing further into himself.

"I don't understand," she complained.

"Lau couldn't have done it. Lau's dead."


	7. Here Lies the Truth

"Lau's dead."

The words hung in the air as if suspended by wires.

"He is _not_ ," Ciel insisted, head whipping up. "That's impossible. I texted him a few hours ago. You _know_ that, Sebastian; you saw me do it."

"I saw you tap at your phone. I never heard a response."

"I keep it on silent. You know I don't like the noise." He shook his head. "And even if he did just die, he still could have killed Tai-Lee and the others."

"No, he really couldn't. Lau died four weeks ago, well before anyone else was killed."

Ciel gaped at him like a fish. "Bullshit."

"It's true."

"I _talked_ to him. You _saw_ me!" Ciel shouted, irrationally angry.

"Ciel, I've never seen you speak to Lau. Ever," Sebastian stated calmly.

"That is absolute _bullshit!_ You saw us at the Lodge three days ago and asked me who I was talking to."

"I saw you sitting alone, talking to yourself."

"And you just let it go?" he sneered disbelievingly.

"You said you were speaking to no one, so yes, I let it go. It's not strange to think aloud."

Ciel shook his head, refusing to believe it. "But – Lizzy? You brought him tea. It was only last Saturday, you have to remember."

Lizzy's green eyes were wide. She blinked rapidly when she realized she was getting drawn into this. "Um, well, no. I didn't."

Ciel slapped his hand down on the table. "Yes you _did_. We were the only people in there until Sebastian showed up. You have to remember!"

She flinched back at his shouting. "I'm sorry, but you're wrong. I gave you your coffee and didn't come back out until Sebastian arrived. I haven't seen Lau in … I don't know how long."

Ciel's chest rose and fell rapidly. His eyes darted around the room like a cornered animal looking for a way out. Sebastian's hand settled on his shoulder. "Breathe. Just breathe."

Ciel stared into his steady red eyes until his breathing slowed and he could think. He pulled out his phone and unlocked it, determined to prove he wasn't crazy. Lau's name should have been at the top of his recent activity, but it wasn't. There was Lizzy. And Sebastian. And his old boss. Growing more and more frantic, he scrolled further down, going impossibly farther back in his history until he was well into the time he was still working. No Lau. He jabbed the screen hard as he navigated to his contacts. His relief at finding Lau's name was short-lived. It had no number in it and no activity. His numb fingers dropped his phone onto the floor, not caring that the screen broke. He slapped both hands over his mouth in horror.

Sebastian squatted down in front of him and placed reassuring hands on his shoulders. "Ciel. _Ciel_." He waited until he had the Were's attention. "You're going to be okay."

Ciel blinked at him mutely.

"I'm sorry, but just what the _hell_ is going on here?" Lizzy demanded, hands on her hips. "Does he need an ambulance?"

Sebastian held Ciel's gaze and ran a comforting hand over his slate-colored hair as he answered her. "Ciel has dementia." The Were didn't argue, just squeezed his eyes shut and looked away in shame.

"Dementia? But he's …." Well. She was going to say 'young,' but reconsidered as it wasn't exactly true. "Is that even possible? I thought he was, like, half vampire."

"I don't know," Sebastian said, shaking his head sadly. "No one has ever lasted this long in transition. The witch whose magic did this didn't know how it would affect him. She thought he would keep aging because his body doesn't run on magic like mine does, but that clearly isn't the case. Our connection is stronger than she anticipated." He stroked Ciel's head gently, not pressuring him to look up yet. "Ran Mao suspects it heals any outside damage to his physical brain but can't replace lost memories or repair the damaged connections when he gets hurt or dies. Personally, I think it might be something deeper."

"That's awful," Lizzy said softly. She reached out a hand to pat Ciel's back comfortingly.

"How did you know?" Ciel asked, voice rough and eyes still on the floor.

"Ran Mao, mostly. I did notice you acting oddly but I didn't put it together until she told me that your brain was damaged and Lau was dead. Then it all suddenly made sense."

Ciel _harrumphed_. "That doesn't explain how you talked to Lau if he was all in my head."

"Lau wasn't in your head," Sebastian said. "Not entirely. He was a real, living person who just happened to die four weeks ago. Lizzy and I both interacted with the real Lau back then. You probably did, too, to have such a vivid mental image of him."

Ciel's head hurt. "But, he texted me," he said weakly to the floor, not protesting, just confused. "He gave me information."

"Did he?" Sebastian challenged, eyebrows lifted. "Did he ever tell you anything you didn't know?"

Ciel thought hard and came to the disturbing realization that no, Lau _hadn't_. He had hinted and teased but never actually _said_ anything. All he did was prod Ciel to think on his own. The man didn't even know the address of his own shop because _Ciel_ didn't know it. He laughed abruptly as he realized that Lau's shitty spelling actually _was_ the result of brain damage – his own. "So all this time, I've just been, what, talking to myself?" He couldn't help and ironic huff of laugher. "How pathetic."

"No!" Lizzy said immediately, wrapping her arms around him from the side to hug him. "You're not pathetic. Not at all. You're just sick."

Ciel gave another hateful laugh. "I'm useless, is what I am. You obviously can't trust anything I've said or done."

"You were right about the Man in White," Lizzy pointed out. "I saw him too and he was being creepy."

Sebastian nodded. "Elizabeth is correct; you may be forgetful and a little delusional, but you're still strong, intelligent, and rational to the best of your ability."

"'Best of my ability,'" Ciel scoffed quietly.

"I know breaking our connection right now is inadvisable –"

"Sebastian!" his head snapped up.

"– but I really do think we should look into it when this matter is resolved."

Ciel was strangely hurt. "You don't want to be connected to me anymore?"

"Oh, love," he stroked Ciel's soft cheek. "I definitely do, but not at the cost of your mind. If there's a way to heal you, I'll do it. I don't need this," he showed his hand, "to stay with you."

"What is that?" Lizzy asked, reaching out. "Can I look?" At Sebastian's nod, she took his hand and stared at the star with open curiosity. It was right in front of Ciel's face, so he good a good look, too. The scabbed brown wound he remembered had darkened into a black star. He had obviously noticed it over the past few days, but this close he could see some sort of symbols or pattern in it. It vaguely reminded him of the markings on the dagger that made it long ago. "This is amazing," Lizzy breathed. "A witch did this?"

 Sebastian made a long pensive noise before allowing, "She did not do it intentionally, but yes, her magic was responsible. Miss Ran Mao thinks she can fix with a different kind of magic."

"Wow," she whispered, releasing the hand. "I've never been around witches before. They sound … scary."

"Powerful, yes. Scary, no. They are just people," Sebastian explained gently. Lizzy regarded him with a thoughtful expression and Ciel wondered why werewolves were so insular and afraid of other races. It had been that way since he was a child and things hadn't changed much. Even Lizzy, friendly, independent, packless Lizzy was inherently uncomfortable with other supernaturals. She seemed to tolerate Sebastian well enough, but that was probably largely due to him being attractive, charming, and vouched for by Ciel.

Ciel sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Look, we don't even know if Ran Mao can break our connection much less what the result would be, so let's put a pin in this until later. Even if everything goes perfectly, now doesn't seem like a good time to be able to die."

Lizzy's eyes widened again. "I didn't even think of that. Yeah, definitely don't do it until we find the killer."

Ciel snorted. "I just said I wasn't going to. I've been like this for years; a few more days won't hurt."

"Hey," Lizzy said suddenly, "is that why you retired?" Sebastian blinked, wondering how he'd missed that connection. At Ciel's look of discomfort, she added, "What? Was that rude? I'm sorry."

"Little rude, yeah." Ciel coughed into his hand, embarrassed. "But also true. It got too hard for me to keep up so I decided to leave before I was asked to go. I never made any big mistakes, but …" he trailed off awkwardly. "I knew something was wrong, I just didn't know it was this bad."

Sebastian squeezed his shoulder and Lizzy told him brightly, "Don't worry! We're going to help you."

"Ugh, what are you, an afterschool special?"

"A what?"

"Jesus fuck, how do you not know what an afterschool special is? Sebastian!" Ciel complained.

The vampire chuckled and turned to survey their makeshift crime board. He clapped his hands to draw their attention. "Children, if you please." Lizzy and Ciel sported identical scowls but simmered down. "Chance Connors was our first victim," he stated, pointing at the leftmost poster. "Then Philip Darr, followed by Tai-Lee, Betty Coleman, and Ciel."

Ciel lifted an unimpressed brow and hoped Sebastian wasn't restating this for his benefit. The posters were hung up in order; even an idiot could figure that much out. "And?" he prompted when Sebastian paused.

"What if Mister Connors was running from some _one_ not some _thing_?"

"You think he brought the killer?" Lizzy asked.

"Maybe not brought so much as was followed," Ciel mused, following Sebastian's train of thought. "Our Man in White could have come for Chance and been forced to execute the others for one reason or another. What if Phil was in the wrong place at the wrong time? What if Tai-Lee checked up on Chance and found the killer dealing with him or Phil? I certainly would have been removed for looking into things if that was the case."

"Pure conjecture, but as valid a reason as any," Sebastian noted. "Maybe he just got a taste for killing?"

"Or maybe it's not connected at all," Lizzy countered sensibly. "You're only guessing at that based on the possibility that someone _might_ have followed him. That's kind of a stretch to start with."

"True, but speculation is important to discovering new connections."

"Facts are more useful," Ciel muttered, arms folded, staring at the wall.

"You're just taking her side because you're mad at me," Sebastian teased.

Ciel's lip curled. "Probably, but it's still true. I'm with Lizzy: more information, less speculation."

Lizzy playfully stuck her tongue out at Sebastian over Ciel's head and Sebastian smiled back to show he had no hard feelings. "Very well then, that means more legwork." Lizzy bounced excitedly and Ciel grumbled. "Miss Elizabeth, we need to know more about Betty. See if you can find out who she was with in the woods that night or at the very least if she had any connection to any of the other victims." The blonde saluted. "Ciel and I will try to track down more information on Mister Connors and see if he was being threatened or followed."

"O-o-oh!" Lizzy gasped, slapping her hand on the table excitedly. "I just had a thought! What if Chance _wasn't_ the first victim?"

"What do you mean – Lau!" Ciel stammered in sudden realization. "You think Lau was part of this, too?" Lizzy nodded emphatically.

Sebastian rested one hand under his chin, the other arm crossed across his waist. "It is possible. Unlikely, as he died a good two weeks before Mister Connors, but possible."

"Was he even murdered, though?" Ciel asked. "Lau wasn't mentioned in any of the news articles as being part of this. Unless my mind was playing tricks on me," he allowed as an afterthought.

"No, you're right," Lizzy assured him. "But it doesn't mean he wasn't. Like Sebastian said, he died well before the others and he wasn't a Were. The only reason we even noticed Tai-Lee's death was because she happened in the middle of three Were murders." She looked a little ashamed of the fact.

"Okay, then. Sebastian, I trust you can get back into the hospital and look up Lau's cause of death?" the vampire nodded. "We might as well get that out of the way now." Sebastian gave a deep bow and elegant flourish before disappearing. Lizzy gasped, spinning in a circle to see where he went. "Don't bother, he's long gone. He can't teleport; he's just fast," Ciel explained disinterestedly.

"That's so cool!"

"Unless he tries to take you with him, then it's nauseating."

Lizzy patted his shoulder consolingly. "Well, wanna look into Betty with me?"

Ciel shrugged. "Sure, but he won't be gone long."

Lizzy pulled a chair up next to Ciel and sat her tablet up on a stand. It projected a keyboard of light on the white wood in front of it, which she typed on quickly and silently, hunting down Betty's social media profiles. A lot of them looked similar to the ones he had used in his youth – completely different names and companies, of course, but similar functions. Lizzy scrolled through a picture-based one comprised almost entirely of birds and trees. The captions were just locations and animal names. With a hum, she flipped to a page that had more writing. It looked like Betty was an avid outdoorsman with an emphasis on birdwatching, though there were a fair amount of dog photos and inspirational quotes thrown in.

"Okay, so she had a dog but I'm not seeing a boyfriend," Ciel noted.

"Could be new," Lizzy mused. "Maybe she joined a dating service?"

Ciel cocked a brow. "A woman who lived in the middle of nowhere joined a dating service? Who would she date out here, deer?"

Lizzy made a rude noise. "This is _not_ the middle of nowhere and everyone needs love."

"Are you on one?"

The blonde smirked, "Why? Gonna look me up, grandpa?"

"Psh. Just curious."

She was silent for a few seconds before admitting, "No. I'm not really looking for anything right now."

Ciel looked up at her in surprise. "Really? With all the time you've spent flirting with me?"

"Ugh, as if. You flirted with me, I just played along." She made a face at the screen. "And I'm not seeing her on any of these dating sites, but a lot are members only. We'd have to sign up to see who's here."

Ciel hummed. "That would take too long."

"Yeah. We'll come back to it later." She checked a few more placed before stating, "Everything else is private. I'll probably try talking to her friends and family next."

"You really are surprisingly good at this," Ciel noted. "You should be a detective."

"Aw, you're sweet."

"No, seriously. Your talents are being wasted as a waitress. Why don't you move to a city and join a police force or get a PI license or something?"

"Because I don't want to. I'm happy here."

"Yeah, but you could do so much good. You seem to enjoy it, too. I could give you a recommendation if you want to try Special Investigations."

Her face hardened a little. "Thanks, but no."

He blinked at her tone. "Lizzy?"

"I appreciate the offer, really, but I'm fine," she said tightly. Lizzy set about entering Betty's local connections into her phone, conversation clearly closed. Ciel sat awkwardly next to her until Sebastian returned.

"Not murdered," he said as a greeting.

"Care to elaborate?"

"Lau's cause of death was listed as an accident. He fell and hit his head on the pavement outside his building."

"Blunt force trauma? Like Betty?" Lizzy asked.

"Not quite. He had a history of fainting spells and low blood pressure. I'm afraid this one was truly accidental. I checked the police report: it happened in broad daylight in front of witnesses. Can't get more aboveboard than that."

Ciel scrunched his mouth to one side. He still had trouble believing Lau was dead but was strangely glad to hear he wasn't murdered. His concern was illogical seeing as he didn't know the real man … who had already been dead for a month. Still. It was oddly comforting for some reason. "Good. No new victim to look into. What now?"

"Back to Plan A: Lizzy looks into Miss Coleman's companion while you and I investigate Mister Connors's past."

Unlike Lizzy, Sebastian did not start with social media. He took Ciel to the Police station to investigate the criminal side of things. When looking into a known drug addict who was potentially on the run, it wasn't a bad place to start. As to be expected in such a small town, the building was practically deserted. A secretary of some sort sat at the front ostensibly to answer phones if one ever rang, though it looked like most of his time was spent playing games. Azzurro's tawny head was bent over some paperwork on one of the three desks, the other two empty. Voices filtered out from a door in the back, maybe the captain's office or a break room.

"This about Phil?" Azzurro grunted when they finished explaining their request.

"Yes," Ciel agreed immediately to ensure his cooperation. And it wasn't a complete lie: finding Chance's killer could solve Phil's murder, too.

"Good 'nuff." Azz clacked on a computer briefly and mashed the print button with his meaty finger. A few pages spat out next to him. "Looks like a few possession charges, some public intoxication, an' a domestic disturbance." He passed them to Ciel, who scanned them quickly and handed them back to Sebastian to hold.

"You previously mentioned that you spoke to Chance Connors. In what capacity?"

Azzurro leaned back in his chair. "He heard about our pack an' wanted to join. He didn't go into specifics or nothin' but said he needed some stability to help 'em through a rough patch. I told him wha' I told you last time, we don't do that. We ain't about bein' no halfway house or therapy group. He needed to go clean himself up, then we'd consider."

"Clean himself up from drugs?"

"Dunno. Maybe drugs, maybe gangs, maybe any number o' things. I didn't ask 'cause he was obviously trying to fix it and I didn't want to have to arrest him or nothin'."

"So he didn't file any complaints himself? Say, if he was being harassed by anyone?"

"Not so far as I knows, no. There's nothing in the system about it. Why, you think the poof was hassling him?"

"Aleistor Chamber?" Ciel asked, surprised. "No. Why would he?"

Azzurro shrugged. "Seems to be what he does."

"No, we've already spoken to Mister Chamber multiple times. As you said yourself, he has alibis for everything."

The big blond Were scowled. "Tch. Yeah he does. Suspicious bastard."

Ciel secretly agreed. The guy was a bigoted creep and he'd love to blame him, but without evidence there was nothing he could do. He certainly wouldn't stoop to framing an innocent man, no matter how big of an asshole.

With a quick word of thanks and promise to call with news, Sebastian and Ciel headed home.

\---

A strange chime sounded, making Ciel jump and look around in confusion.

"Phone," Sebastian said in explanation, crossing the room to pick his device up off the table. "Miss Elizabeth. Any news?" He sat on the sofa next to Ciel, Lizzy's excited face on the screen. She was sitting in her car, though thankfully not driving. The last vestiges of late sunset gave just enough light for them to see her.

"You guys are _not_ going to believe this!" she practically shouted.

"What?"

"Betty slept with Aleistor Chamber."

" _What?_ "

"I know. She actually was a member of a dating site and met up with him at a bar in Sudbury."

"Intentionally?" Ciel asked skeptically.

Lizzy laughed. "Yes, intentionally. Betty's roommate and best friend, Kate, said they spent the night together but she regretted it immediately afterward. She called him quote, 'a Were-hating loon' and deleted her dating profile to get away from him."

"Hm, that is odd. Aleistor denied knowing her when we asked him," Sebastian explained.

"According to Kate, he said some _really_ awful things to her, accusing her of lying to him and 'contaminating' him. He's got some sort of weird genocidal-level hatred of werewolves."

Ciel snorted. "No shit. How'd he even find out? I doubt she announced it."

"Apparently they were a little, um, rough and he blew a gasket when she was completely healed the next morning. He called her out on it right away."

"I could have lived my whole life without knowing that."

"And yet you asked. Did it to yourself," she taunted.

 Ciel muttered unkind things. He rubbed furiously at his eyes before groaning, "God! This means we have to talk to him again, doesn't it?"

"Only if we want to find out what he's hiding," Sebastian said.

"Where are you?" Ciel asked Lizzy.

"Parked on the road outside Betty and Kate's house, not too far from the Lodge. Do you guys want to meet up?"

Ciel shook his head. "No need. We didn't find anything new on our end. No sign of a stalker and no arrests or other trouble since coming here. If Chance had any social media presence, it's well hidden. The guy was practically a ghost."

"So, definitely running from something?"

Ciel and Sebastian exchanged looks before shrugging in unison. "Possible," the vampire started.

"But not conclusive," the Were finished. "I don't have any of that stuff either and I'm not running from a hit man. He could have just wanted to start over get rid of temptation."

"We should definitely talk to Chamber, then?" Lizzy asked.

Ciel paused, trying to think of a nice way to tell her that she wasn't coming with them. A thump caught his attention. "Lizzy?" She turned around to look at something, the camera listing off to one side. The loud sound of shattering glass followed a second later and she screamed, struggling. The phone in her hand flailed and dropped to the floorboard. It all happened in a matter of seconds, stunning Ciel. A gunshot popped and both he and Sebastian were on their feet though he had no recollection of standing. Blue eyes wide, he looked up and commanded, "Go get her. Run!" He had a faint glimpse of Sebastian nodding before tearing out, leaving the door open behind him in his haste. Ciel wanted to go with him but knew the vampire would be faster alone.

He paced anxiously, not sure what to do as the minutes ticked by. He knew it was a long way to run and that Sebastian undoubtedly has his work cut out for him searching for Lizzy but his nerves were on edge. He wasn't much on religion, but he found himself praying to anyone who would listen that she'd be okay. Two or three times he tried to do something useful like pulling out blankets or making tea but gave up without following through. He didn't know what would be helpful.

Sixty-three agonizing minutes later, Sebastian returned with a bundled-up Lizzy.

"Is she –"

"Sh!" the vampire admonished, lowering her to the sofa. Ciel peered nervously over the back. Lizzy's mouth was bloody and she had the beginnings of a black eye. The rest was swaddled up in an emergency blanket. Sebastian situated her comfortably before leading Ciel into the kitchen so they wouldn't wake her. "She'll be okay," the vampire said somewhat unnecessarily. Ciel was certain that he would have taken her to a hospital if it weren't true.

"What happened?"

"I believe our man in white recognized her from this morning and did his best to eliminate her."

"You saw him?"

Sebastian nodded. "Got a fair look at his face, too. He is definitely _not_ Aleistor Chamber." Ciel honestly didn't know how he felt about that. Relieved. Confused. Frustrated. Worried. It was a veritable cornucopia of emotions. Sebastian continued, "From what I could tell, he shot her window out, got his gun knocked out of his hand, and dragged her out. I believe he tried to beat her, but Lizzy put up one _hell_ of a fight."

Ciel snorted. "I'm not surprised. How badly is she hurt?"

Sebastian hummed thoughtfully. "Nothing too serious. A few bumps and bruises, some cuts from the glass. I think one of her arms is broken and maybe some ribs. She won't be happy when she wakes up, but you Weres heal fairly quickly so she should be back to rights in a few days. Fortunately, I arrived before he could do too much damage."

"What the hell took you so long, then?" Ciel demanded. "You were gone almost an hour!"

"I couldn't very well sling her around in her current state, could I? I took a few minutes to assess her injuries, set her arm, and then _gently_ carried her back."

Ciel scrunched his face, wondering why _he_ didn't get special consideration like that, but dropped it. "And the killer?"

Sebastian radiated displeasure. "He escaped."

"What!?" Ciel shouted, then winced as he remembered Lizzy and repeated softer, "What do you mean 'he escaped?'"

"I had to choose between helping Miss Elizabeth and capturing the man in white. She was bleeding and passed out in front of me so I chose to help her first. By the time I determined she wasn't in mortal peril, he was gone."

Ciel eyed him disbelievingly. "Someone got away from _you_? Like, on foot?"

Sebastian threw up a frustrated hand. "It does happen. As impressive as I am, I'm not actually perfect. I might have been able to find him with an in-depth search, but I wasn't about abandon an unconscious, injured girl in the snow at night." He stared the Were down until he saw acknowledgement in his eyes. Not that the irritating little runt would ever say as much aloud.

"This sucks," Ciel said, plopping down into a seat at the little dinette table.

Sebastian hummed in agreement. "Given the state of things, I feel compelled to ask if you've changed your mind. This all certainly seems like more trouble than it's worth."

Ciel looked up at him reproachfully. "This is just one more reason I have to stay. I can't abandon Lizzy here now."

"We could take her with us."

Ciel sighed, dropping his chin into his hand, elbow propped on the table. "No. She won't go. She practically threw a fit when I suggested she move to a city earlier today. Besides, it sounds like Ran Mao might be able to fix me – but I'm definitely not doing that until we catch the killer. Ugh!" he dropped his head to the table. "This is such a mess. Why are we even _doing_ this?"

Sebastian chuckled and rubbed his back. "For all the reasons you just listed, apparently." Ciel grumbled unintelligibly, face still hidden. "Come on, it sounds like someone is tired. Let's get you to bed. We need to be up bright and early to talk to Mister Chamber."

Ciel let out a whine of protest.

\---

Morning dawned cold, bright and utterly confusing. Ciel was only mildly surprised to find Sebastian in his bed again, completely unprepared to see Lizzy on his sofa, and in total disbelief that they had to go talk to Aleistor again. Fortunately, Sebastian was willing to patiently talk him through it.

"I thought that was a bad dream," he grumbled into his cup of coffee.

"Not quite, though I understand why one would feel that way."

Ciel extended his empty cup silently and Sebastian obediently refilled it. He was grudgingly coming to the conclusion that no amount of caffeine would make his mind sharper – but wasn't quite ready to throw in the towel on it.

"Delaying won't make this easier," Sebastian chided.

"Makes me feel better, though," Ciel muttered, looking at his tablet. His eyes flicked disapprovingly over the new phone sitting to his left whenever it caught the edge of his vision. Sebastian had picked it up for him after he went to sleep to replace the one he broke yesterday. He had protested out of reflex, but gave in quickly. There was simply no way around it; he needed a phone and that was all that was available. He'd have to deal. With a great sigh, he put down his tablet and half-asked, mostly-commanded, "Show me how to use this stupid thing, then."

For his part, Sebastian did an admirable job of not teasing or making a big deal of it. He patiently showed Ciel how to activate it with a thumb swipe, showed him where his contact list was, and tapped on his own name to demonstrate a call. Ciel had to admit it wasn't as awful as he feared. A vaguely familiar guitar riff sounded from Sebastian's pocket showing that it actually worked. The vampire reached down and flicked it off without taking it out.

"Wait – was that … Duran Duran?" Ciel asked uncertainly. Sebastian's expression was somewhere between amused and sheepish, which was all the answer Ciel needed. "Dick," he breathed without venom. "Should I even bother asking you to change it?"

"I don't know what you mean. That song is classic."

"Oh, my mistake," he said insincerely. "I thought it was making fun of me. You're telling me 'Hungry Like the Wolf' plays no matter who calls?"

Sebastian's lips tugged up at the corners. Be briefly debated drawing this conversation out, but they really did have things to do. "Fine, I'll change it as soon as we have some down time. Right now, though, we have work to do." He rose and Ciel followed with a sigh.

"Fine let's get this over with." He really didn't want to drive all the way out to Druitt Hill to see Aleistor Chamber, but it was the only way. If they asked him hard questions by phone he could fake a bad connection and/or get a head start if he planned to do a runner. Azzurro would undoubtedly allow them to call Chamber down to the police station for some more official questioning; getting Azzurro to let Chamber _leave_ the police station after would be another matter. No, direct, unexpected confrontation was the best route. They'd catch him off guard and hopefully prompt some honesty.

Despite the racket they'd been making, Lizzy was still out cold. Sebastian left a note explaining their errand on the coffee table in front of her with a plate of finger foods and painkillers.

The drive out was long and mostly silent. Ciel hated how familiar it was becoming. He followed Sebastian up the swirling walkway to Aleistor's door and let the larger man knock and take care of the social pleasantries. The less he had to do with that loon, the better.

A strange ding sounded in his pocket and Ciel looked down, fishing his phone out to see a text from Lizzy asking them to call her as soon as they finished. He couldn't see how to respond, so he shrugged and put it away, looking up just in time to see the look of utter shock on Aleistor's face when he noticed Ciel standing behind Sebastian. The Were quirked a slate brow. "Yeah, it's me."

The blond man stumbled over his tongue for a moment before choking out, "You – but you, I head you'd …?"

"Heard I'd …?" Ciel repeated.

"Been shot," Aleistor finished delicately. "I'm glad to see you're okay, though."

Ciel blinked at him, looked up to Sebastian to see a similar look of confusion on the vampire's face, and turned back to Aleistor. "Who said I was shot?"

The man blanched, if that were possible. "I heard a rumor in town." Ciel stared him down silently, waiting for him to crack. "Some people at the Lodge. It's obviously not true, though." He laughed nervously, waving his hand.

"Oh, no. It is. I'm just curious how you know since there were no official records."

Aleistor gulped, supremely uncomfortable. "You should go," he said in a high, tight voice. "You should really –" he tried to close the door, which Sebastian caught easily.

"No. We need to talk. Sebastian?"

The vampire nodded and pushed to door open, ushering Ciel and Aleistor into the siting room. The blond sat stiffly in a chair as far away from Ciel as possible. "I don't want you here."

"Clearly. And to be honest, I don't want to be here so we're both going to have to suffer through it. Now talk: how did you know I'd been shot?"

Aleistor's face warred between fear and disgust. "You're one of _them_ , aren't you?"

"I'm afraid I don't follow," Ciel said aloofly, enjoying pressing the bigot's buttons. "A government agent? Yes."

"A _monster_ ," Aleistor hissed.

"You and I have very different opinions of what that word means, Mister Chamber," Ciel said darkly. "Whoever killed those innocent people is a monster. The man who shot me in the chest is a monster. The man who _brutally attacked and tried to kill my friend last night_ is a monster." He leaned in closer to repeat, "Now tell me: who told you I was shot?"

Aleistor sniffed at him in disgust and turned his face away, jaw clamped firmly shut.

"Sebastian," Ciel said, intention clear. The vampire nodded and stepped toward the human.

Aleistor's eyes snapped over to the large man, emotions playing over his face. Confusion, suspicion, hope, worry. "You're not one of them," he said weakly.

Sebastian chuckled, low and deep. "I am most definitely not a werewolf." When Aleistor's shoulders slumped in relief, he added, "I'm much worse." Aleistor squeaked in fright as Sebastian's red eyes glowed and the creature's lips parted to show too many sharp teeth. "Now, why don't you make yourself useful and tell my partner what he wants to know?" Aleistor panted in terror, frozen to the spot.

"As amusing as this is, I think he's about to pass out," Ciel noted blandly. "He can't talk if he's unconscious." Sebastian hummed in agreement and backed off a bit. "We don't want to hurt you," Ciel offered. "I mean, you're obviously a sack of shit but unless you're a _murderous_ sack of shit, we really have no interest in you. Just tell us what we want to know and we'll leave."

Aleistor looked between Ciel and Sebastian with wide eyes. "I told you, I heard it at the Lodge. It was just gossip. Someone said the little gray-haired boy got shot and I thought it had to be you."

Ciel looked at Sebastian, who shrugged. It was plausible someone had overheard them, especially with Lizzy's screaming. He let it drop for now. "Okay. That's not actually why we're here." He dug in his jacket and pulled out a printed photo, handing it to Sebastian to unfold and show Aleistor. "This is Betty Coleman. You told us you didn't know her."

"I don't."

Ciel sighed deeply. "According to her friends and a dating website called MatchUp, you do."

Aleistor paused before saying, "Oh, _that_ Betty Coleman."

"Thought so," Ciel muttered.

"I … may have made sweet, passionate love to her," Aleistor admitted.

"We know you had sex with her," Ciel stated flatly, annoyed at Aleistor's flowery language. "What we want to know is why you lied about it."

Aleistor squirmed. "She looked different. Her hair was," he waved a hand around his own head, "sleeker and lighter. She had on makeup. She was a fierce, trendy urban goddess swathed in layers of darkness to hide her inner beastly nature."

A vein twitched in Ciel's temple. "She dressed differently? That's your excuse."

"W-well, I might have been a tiny bit, um, disgusted with what I'd done and shunted it to the furthest reached of my mind to avoid the torment of its memory," he babbled, apparently allergic to speaking plainly.

"The 'sleeping with a werewolf' part or the 'harassing her so horribly she deleted her dating account' part?"

Aleistor grimaced. "I admit I didn't handle it well –"

"You think?"

"– but she lied to me and made me think she was normal."

"She was normal, you prejudiced twat!" Ciel shouted, slamming is hand down on the glass coffee table with an alarming _bang_. Aleistor jumped. "You do realize that every horrible thing you say about her only further convinces me that you're behind her death, don't you?"

"I – I, here," the blond stammered, digging his phone out and swiping to pull up a camera roll. He looked warily at Sebastian before leaning forward and placing his phone on the coffee table, scooting it to Ciel, whom he'd clearly decided was the lesser of two evils. "These are pictures from the night Betty died. I was in Sudbury on another MatchUp date. I have the messages on their site and a hotel bill to prove it, too. I showed that nast–" he cut himself off, "Officer Vanel when he came asking about last Friday."

Ciel hummed as he scrolled through. There were certainly a lot of pictures of him and some blonde woman in what appeared to be a bar. As much as Azzurro hated Aleistor, he was certain the man had examined this story under a microscope and found nothing amiss otherwise Aleistor would undoubtedly be locked up. "Convenient, isn't it? The fact that you've had an alibi for every murder."

"Lucky is more like it," Aleistor huffed. "With the way you're all hounding me, I'm honestly afraid to be home alone anymore."

Ciel pushed the phone back and crossed his arms, observing the other man critically. Unfortunately, hating werewolves was not a crime and that's all Aleistor seemed to be guilty of. He exchanged wordless glances with Sebastian, having an entire conversation through expressions and minute headshakes before saying, "That will be all then. Thank you for your help and do try to stay out of trouble. If you're truly not involved in this, you may want to consider taking a brief vacation until things blow over."

Aleistor made a rude noise, crossing his arms and legs. "As if I'm going to abandon my own home."

Ciel smirked and tipped his head. "In that regard, we are the same."


	8. It Takes Two

Ciel had updated Lizzy on their visit during the drive home and they were all now clustered into his dining room for further brainstorming. He and Sebastian had swung by Lizzy's house on the way home and picked up their research, which now hung on one of his walls. Lizzy munched happily through her third sandwich one-handed while Sebastian put the finishing touches on his sketch of the Man in White.

"'ou're 'eally goo' at dat," Lizzy garbled out through a mouth full of tuna.

His face pinched slightly at her atrocious table manners but he offered a polite "Thank you" all the same. Sebastian swiped Lizzy's glue stick over the back of his drawing and added it to the appropriate suspect page.

"He's kind of handsome," Lizzy stated.

"Yeah, in a murdery kind of way," Ciel agreed sarcastically.

She puffed her cheeks out at him. "I'm just saying he's not what I expected is all. I thought he'd be some ugly loner who kills because he can't get a date, not some dreamboat girls would chase into the forest."

Ciel turned to look at her. "Say that again."

"What? I wouldn't do it myself, obviously."

"No – if you didn't know he was a killer, would you go for a walk with him? Like, on a date."

Her eyes flicked from Ciel to Sebastian's drawing and back. She shrugged. "Probably. I mean, he doesn't _look_ dangerous. I don't see why that matters, though."

"Because Betty Coleman was walking in the forest with a mystery person who killed her. This mysterious guy lurks in the forest, where he kills people. See the connection?"

Her green eyes went round. "You think he lured her out there? How?"

"Like you said, he's attractive and she was single in a small dating pool. It would have been easy for him to ask her out for a romantic walk and – _bam! –_ kill her. It wouldn't even have been suspicious, I mean, what else is there to do on a date out here?"

"But – wait. Didn't she have a boyfriend?" Lizzy pointed out.

"According to Marv, yes," Sebastian said. "However … it's not beyond reason that he read more into things than she did. He may have been seeing her exclusively, but that's not necessarily true on her part."

She hummed thoughtfully. "Okay. So that means he attacked me, shot Ciel, and possibly murdered Betty. Do you think he killed the others?"

Ciel shook his head. "We really don't have enough to say, do we? It's certainly possible."

"For lack of a better suspect, I'd say it was likely," Sebastian added. "Mister Darr would have been roaming around in this killer's known territory, Mister Connors would have been an easy target with his drug addiction, and the killer could have easily acted as a love interest to both women."

Lizzy snorted. "What, they fell victim to his masculine wiles just because they're female?"

Sebastian shrugged. "It's a theory. I'm only postulating how it is _possible_ for him to have done it."

"That's true, I guess," she allowed, eyeing Ciel's barely-touched sandwich longingly. He looked her dead in the eye as he raised it and took a large bite. "So mean!"

He chewed slowly. "Just so you know, I hate tuna and I'm not even hungry. I'm getting no enjoyment out of this at all."

She made a small affronted sound. "It's no wonder you're single, you know."

Ciel arched a brow and looked at Sebastian. "That's news to me. 'Bastian?"

The vampire gave a dramatic sigh. "I was going to tell you. I have decided to run away with Lizzy and impregnate her with my werebat babies."

"You treacherous bitch," Ciel said flatly.

"Don't try to stop us; our love is too strong."

"Clearly."

"Wait, what?" Lizzy asked, head ping-ponging between the two men. "Werebat?"

"A joke," Sebastian assured her. "I think this is Ciel's way of telling you we're a couple."

"Oh! Um, congratulations? Though, if you've been together since the twenty-teens I guess it's not too surprising?"

Ciel snorted. "It's kinda surprising to me. We've only been a 'thing' since, what, four days ago?"

"Technically, since twenty-fifteen with a sixty-eight year hiatus," Sebastian corrected.

"If that makes you feel better." Ciel rolled his eyes and pushed his half-eaten sandwich over to Lizzy who consumed it in a flash.

"Kay," she said after wiping her mouth daintily. "So today's progress: Chambers is out, Man in White is in."

"Seems to be the case, yeah," Ciel agreed. "Can't say I'm happy with it, but I think that's more of a personal problem than anything else."

"Well. He's certainly not innocent, so I see no reason you should object to involving the local wolves on this one," Sebastian suggested.

Ciel inclined his head in agreement. "If anyone has a chance of finding this guy, I'd say it's the Gray Wolves. I'll give Azzurro a call and see if their pack can comb the woods to the north of town. He's been itching for a way to contribute."

The call went about as expected. By the time the words left Ciel's mouth, Azzurro had already mobilized the majority of his pack, with the rest planning to join as soon as they were available. He thanked Ciel profusely for his hard work and swore to get him results.

What did not go expected is that the man in white fought back. And there were two of him.

"Two?" Ciel asked incredulously into the phone an hour later.

" _Tha's what I fuckin' said!_ " Azzurro shouted in his ear. " _Two of my guys saw him fifty miles apart at the same time and both got shot._ "

"Are they –"

" _Ain't dead, just hurt real bad. Neither one caught his guy so we're still looking. Those bastards are real fast._ "

Ciel hummed. "That certainly changes things. Tell your men to pair up and keep their eyes open."

" _Yeah, thanks, I got this,_ " Azzurro blew him off, disconnecting without warning. Ciel rolled his eyes and wondered if he was ever that headstrong and difficult when he was younger.

"Did I hear that correctly?" Sebastian asked needlessly. "There are two men in white?"

"Hm, apparently," Ciel agreed. "I wonder what it means for our theories?" He wandered back into the dining room and looked over their notes for the millionth time. "It certainly wreaks havoc on all of our alibis." He pointed to Lizzy's board. "Like here: just because the man you sketched attacked Lizzy doesn't mean he was the same one who attacked me."

"You were pretty adamant that the man you were following wasn't holding a gun, so it does explain how you got shot. His partner could have come to his aid."

Ciel nodded in agreement. "So it does. It also means that one or more of them could be someone we've already alibied out. Like, say, _Aleistor_ for instance?"

Sebastian chuckled. "You seem a bit hung up on him."

Ciel tossed up a hand. "I'm just saying. He could be one of the two – or more – people running around out there. It would explain how he always has an air-tight alibi precisely when he needs it."

The vampire hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose we'll know soon. I don't see that pack letting their quarry get away easily after today."

Ciel's phone pinged as if on cue.

A. Vanel: **Got one.**  
Ciel: **Station?**  
A. Vanel: **If he makes it that far.  
** Ciel: **He had better. We need him to talk.  
** A. Vanel: **Noted.  
** Ciel: **We want the other one to be able to talk, too.  
** A. Vanel: **(** _seen_ 3:17 p.m. **)**

Ciel snorted. "We better get to that station before they dispense justice themselves."

 ---

Neither of the Men in White carried an ID, though facial recognition identified them easily enough as Charles Phipps and Charles Grey. Though they were young men, both had almost perfectly white hair to match their white suits, lending them the appearance of specters. They also shared enough physical similarities to make Ciel suspect they were cousins if not brothers despite the different surnames.

Lizzy and Sebastian immediately identified Grey as her attacker while Ciel was pretty sure from their size difference that he had been following Phipps the day he got shot.

Lizzy still moved gingerly and winced despite her painkillers, but she was determined to come down and have a look at these guys. It seemed to make her feel marginally better when she realized they were in roughly the same shape she was. Azzurro and his pack had apparently decided the suspects could talk well enough with broken legs and Ciel thanked them for staying clear of their heads. Concussed suspects provided unreliable information at best … not that these two were talking anyway. Phipps had been locked in the back room of the police station (which turned out to be a break room) while Grey was chained to a desk in the main area. Both were aggressively silent.

Azzuro sent the human staff, Officer Wiggins and the secretary whose name Ciel had never paid attention to, home before bringing in Phipps and Grey so they could talk freely. The humans likely had their suspicions about what was going on, but suspecting and knowing were two entirely different things.

Ciel pulled up a metal chair and sat directly in front of Grey, crossing his legs casually at the knee. "Now, what are we going to do with you?" he mused aloud. Gray stared at him with seething hatred, eyes occasionally flicking toward Lizzy. "Yes, I see you remember her. The question though is why did you attack her?" Grey's lips stayed clamped firmly closed. "Was it because she spotted you? Oh, I see. You just really, _really_ hate werewolves. What happened, was it a schoolyard bully?" he taunted. Grey ground his teeth at the jab but continued his silence.

"It's not workin'," Azzurro noted, his accent thick due to irritation. "We should just beat on 'em some more 'til he feels chatty."

Ciel rolled his eyes. "You've done plenty already, thank you. I'm going to see if the other one is more cooperative. Do try to keep him in one piece until I get back. Sebastian?" The vampire nodded and followed him silently into the back room.

Phipps was a head taller than Grey and in noticeably worse condition. His left arm hung at an odd angle and he seemed to be slumping more than sitting. His eyes flicked up when the door opened, but they were the only part of him to move.

"Mister Phipps," Ciel greeted him cordially, seating himself across the cheap Formica table.

"Fuck you," the man ground out.

 _Already more cooperative. Excellent_. "I suppose you know why you're here?" Artic blue eyes bore into him and Ciel chose to take that as a yes. "I'll cut to the chase then. We already know that you are guilty of multiple assaults and murders. What we want to know is _why_."

Phipps curled his lip and looked away.

"Let me give you some incentive, then. I'm not associated with the pack you have been terrorizing." True. "I work for an entirely different agency." Mostly true. "If you can give me the information I need, I'll do what I can to take you away from here and see that you get a fair trial." Lie.

As if sensing his deception, Phipps simply snorted and held his tongue.

Ciel settled back in his chair and threw up a disinterested hand. "It's up to you of course. As far as I'm concerned, this problem has been resolved. The Grey Wolf pack caught a pair of Were poachers on their territory and is entitled to do whatever they see fit to them." He gave a pointed look at Phipps's arm. "And from the start they've had, it looks like you two are in for a fun ride."

Phipps grimaced and made an abortive attempt to roll his shoulder. He locked gazes with Ciel and they had a silent stare-down. "Fine," he said at last, voice soft in contrast to his size. "What do you want?"

"I want to know why you two killed all those people."

"People," Phipps sneered. "We didn't kill any _people_ , just monsters."

Ciel's cheek twitched. "I believe the question was _why_? If you're not interested in answering it just say so and I'll be on my way. I do hate having my time wasted," he confided with a fake smile.

"Because they were monsters, obviously!" Phipps snapped as if it should be obvious. Ciel stared at him expectantly, slowly realizing that no further explanation was coming. There was no deeper meaning to any this. It wasn't revenge or politics or part of a grand scheme; they simply saw monsters and killed them. Period.

"You murdered two men and women, shot me, and attacked Lizzy just because we're different?"

"Monsters," Phipps corrected automatically. He eyed Ciel with interest. "Could have sworn you were dead, though."

"Your concern is touching. Why the different M.O. on the two dead women? You obviously had no qualms shooting your male victims."

Phipps's forehead creased a bit. "You keep saying 'two.'"

Ciel lifted a brow. "Because there were two: Tai-Lee and Betty." Phipps shook his head and Ciel nodded in rebuttal.

"I don't know what you're talking about. We only killed one girl."

"Cut the crap. We already know about both of them, so save me the trouble of listening to you lie and tell me what I want to know."

"I _can't_ because I don't know what you're _talking_ about," Phipps snapped hotly. "Why would I bother lying about one of them if I'm going to admit to the other? That doesn't make any sense."

Ciel stared at him pensively. That was a good point. It didn't prove he _wasn't_ lying about it, of course, but it bore consideration. He flicked his eyes up to Sebastian, who shrugged as if to say it didn't matter either way, before turning back to Phipps. "Very well then. Tell me which one you did kill and why she wasn't shot."

Phipps shifted uncomfortably in his chair, trying to move without jostling his arm or anything else that might hurt. "I guess Betty? The other one sounds Oriental and the one we killed was definitely a white girl." Ciel nodded. "And …" Phipps trailed off, seemingly considering before shrugging his right shoulder and saying, "I dunno."

"You don't know why you tased her and beat her face in?" Ciel asked with a fair amount of skepticism.

"Yeah, I don't know, okay. We just … did. To try it, I guess?"

Ciel _hmm_ 'ed, unconvinced. "But you clearly went back to using guns after."

Phipps snorted and rolled his eyes. "Obviously. Guns are easier. So are we good? Was that enough?"

"Not remotely. How did you end up here in White River?"

The white-haired man sighed and looked around. When a magical escape route didn't appear, he turned back to Ciel and said, "We just did."

"Not good enough."

"I don't know!"

"It wasn't your idea?"

"No. I mean, it wasn't like it was Grey's idea either. We just … ended up here." Ciel lifted his brows disbelievingly and stared him down until he added, "We came camping here as kids and heard ghost stories, alright? Turns out they were true, so there you go."

Ciel sat quietly until he was certain that was the story Phipps was going to stick with. "You randomly decided to investigate a childhood ghost story, stumbled across werewolves, and decided to load up like Van Helsing and kill them all? That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Fuck you," Phipps snarled.

Ciel stared at him blankly. "Your story has more holes than information."

Handcuffs rattled on the crossbar of the table as Phipps tried to throw up his uninjured hand in frustration. "What do you want from me? I answered your stupid questions; now get me out of here! I need a doctor."

"No, what you _need_ is to tell me the truth. I don't believe for one second that you randomly wandered into pack territory, randomly stumbled across werewolves, and randomly started hunting them down."

"That's what happened."

"Please," Ciel scoffed. "You don't know why you're here, you don't know why you beat Betty's head in, and you don't know Tai-Lee. It sounds like you 'don't know' much of anything. Surely you can't be that ignorant and live."

Phipp's expression was murderous. "Fine, tell me what you want me to say and I'll say it."

Ciel leaned in, dark blue eyes narrowed. "I want you to tell the truth, if you can't be bothered, we're through here."

The man looked genuinely conflicted. Worry, confusion, and anger flickered across his face in alternating flashes. For a second, Ciel even thought he might actually buckle before he stared down at the table dejectedly and muttered, "I already told you the truth."

Ciel's chair slid back with a screech on the linoleum and he left without a word.

"Ciel, what –" Lizzy started.

He cut her off with a quick gesture, looking pointedly at Grey who was eyeing him with interest. "Azzurro, outside." The large blond nodded and directed his men to watch the prisoners before following the smaller Were outside. Sebastian and Lizzy were naturally right on their heels.

"You got him to talk?" the Alpha asked with interest.

"In a manner of speaking. He claims they Scooby-Doo'ed their way into knowledge of the supernatural and started their own monster-hunting club."

Azzurro's murky gray eyes examined him critically. "From your tone, I'm assumin' you don't buy that."

Ciel shook his head. "I don't. Something about it seems … off."

"Hm," Azz hummed before asking, "Does it really matter how they started? I mean, we caught them and they won't be killing anyone else."

Ciel conceded the point with a nod of his head. "That is the important thing, I guess. I just really wish I knew _why_."

Sebastian placed a hand on his shoulder. "Not everything has a reason."

The small Were deflated a bit. "I know. I just … never mind. You're right, Azzurro. We caught them; let's put this all behind us."

The Alpha grinned a big toothy grin. "Damn right we will. You done with these guys, then?"

Ciel didn't even want to think about what would happen to those men in short order, but Grey wasn't talking at all and Phipps was as helpful as a pile of bricks so he nodded and washed his hands of it. Mystery solved. Bad guys caught. Town safe. What more did he want?

"Cool." Azz clapped a hand of his free shoulder. "We really 'preciate what you did, kid. We don't normally deal without outsiders but any time you need help, you just let us know." He looked at Sebastian directly for what was possibly the first time, "And you, too, man. What is it you do, exactly?"

Sebastian bared his long fangs in a friendly smile. "I'm just moral support."

Azzurro blinked, slightly shaken. "Uh, yeah. Thanks all the same." He turned to go back in side, nodding politely at Lizzy on the way.

"Well, that was … anticlimactic," she said mildly.

"I know what you mean," Ciel agreed. He'd been hoping for … he didn't know what. Not a big shoot out or dramatic battle, but at least a little resolution. It felt like a hollow victory. He shook his head. "Whatever, let's go home. Liz, you're welcome to stay at our place until you heal."

"Nah, that's okay," she said. "I'd rather just go home and relax. I could use a lift to my car tomorrow once my arm is well enough to drive. I hope nothing's happened to my car …" she trailed off, suddenly remembering that her vehicle had been abandoned, window broken and door likely left open with the keys inside.

"Sebastian will take care of it," Ciel promised. "You just focus on getting better."

\---

Ciel stared into his fireplace later that night, watching the flames roll.

"Would you like some more cocoa?" Sebastian offered from beside him on the sofa. The Were shook his head silently, lost in thought. A long arm wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him against a firm chest. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nothing, really. I just thought it would feel different."

The vampire hummed in agreement. "I was rather hoping for a grand conspiracy myself."

Ciel snorted and lapsed back into brooding silence.

"I know what would make you feel better," the vampire teased after a few minutes.

The Were's ears perked up at his tone, turning slightly to face him. "Oh, and what is that?"

"If you let your tail have a little fresh air."

Ciel laughed. "And I'm sure you're offering this suggestion altruistically with no personal gain whatsoever?"

Sebastian placed an innocent hand on his chest, leaning back. "Of course. I just want what's best for you."

"You wouldn't happen to _like_ my tail, would you?" he asked innocently, batting his eyes up at the larger man.

"That is entirely irrelevant," Sebastian stated primly. "I am only concerned with your health."

"Mm'hm," the Were intoned, smile growing. "Said like a true physician. Tell me, did you sneak off and get a medical license while you were gone?"

The vampire chuckled. "I believe I'm fully capable of treating your ailment."

"That would be a 'no,' then." Ciel swung a leg over Sebastian's lap to straddle him and crawl up his chest, enjoying the brief hitch he heard in the man's unnecessary breath. "Someone is just playing at being a doctor," he accused.

"I'd be happy to play doctor any time you want," Sebastian said in a gravelly voice, reaching around to squeeze Ciel's butt with both hands.

The small Were ran his nose and open lips lightly over Sebastian's upturned face, ducking out of the way when the vampire tried to kiss him. "This doesn't seem very professional, sir," he playfully reprimanded, dropping his hips to grind their groins together.

The vampire tightened his grip, pushing them together more firmly. "I assure you, it is not only proper but necessary." His formal words were slightly panted, making Ciel grin.

"Alright then, doctor," he whispered innocently into Sebastian's ear to hide his smirk, "what should I do now?"

Large hands pushed up under his shirt to feel the skin of his back. "First things first, we need to remove these layers so I can examine you properly." At his nod, the hands continued up, dragging off his sweater and t-shirt in one smooth movement. Red eyes skimmed eagerly over the exposed flesh, hands following right after. "Much better."

"What are you doing?"

"Testing your reflexes." He pulled his hands slowly up the Were's sides and brushed his thumbs firmly over pink nipples, making Ciel jump. He pinched the buds between his fingers, rolling them to produce pretty moans. "Mm, excellent so far." Ciel squirmed in his lap, rubbing his clothed erection too perfectly to be chance movements. _Sneaky little brat._ "Let's get the rest of this off of you so I can see what I have to work with, hm?" He wrapped his arms around the Were's back and gently lowered him to the floor where he removed all his remaining clothing at an efficient, yet still human, speed. Completely unabashed, Ciel sprawled bare on the fluffy brown rug, firelight playing across his skin.

"You're drooling, doctor," the little imp teased, wiggling playfully.

Sebastian wiped the corner of his mouth automatically, frowning when he found it dry. "It's not good to lie to your doctor," he admonished sternly. Well, as sternly as he could manage while actively eye-fucking his patient.

"Let's get back to business, then," Ciel said, sitting up and grabbing one of Sebastian's hands. "If I'm not mistaken, this is the part where you take my temperature." Blue eyes locked on red, he slipped Sebastian's index finger into his mouth. Ciel flicked his tongue teasingly over the tip before sucking it down deeply and watching the vampire's brain short-circuit. He moaned around the digit and wiggled his tongue under it as Sebastian tried to work out how the tables had gotten turned on him so quickly. Ciel walked his free hand up Sebastian's inseam to cup the hard ridge at its apex. Quick little fingers unzipped and exposed him, making Sebastian suck in a breath. Before any protest could be voiced, Ciel had released his finger and swallowed half his cock.

Sebastian threw his head back with a groan at the sudden heat, slapping his hands down behind him to keep from toppling over. Ciel enthusiastically sucked and bobbed, rendering Sebastian incapable of doing anything other than gasping at the sudden onslaught of stimulus. His eyes snapped open when Ciel's throat vibrated and his cock gave a violet throb at the sight of furry little cat ears and the realization that Ciel was _purring_ around him. "Fucking – !" He slammed his eyes closed again and bit his tongue hard to reign himself in. He absolutely could _not_ watch that without immediately embarrassing himself.

Ciel pulled off and kitten-licked at the head. Salty precome welled freely from the tip and he lapped it up greedily. "Something wrong, doctor?" he asked sweetly, kissing the frenulum before tonguing his way down the shaft to suck at the base. Sebastian mutely shook his head, not trusting himself to open his eyes or mouth – especially when he felt an abnormally long, feline tongue curl around the side of his shaft. Okay, maybe he peeked at that one. He practically had to.

The vampire gently tried to extricate himself to delay the inevitable, pushing lightly at Ciel's shoulders and scooting back. Ciel was having none of it. He knew Sebastian could get away easily if he wanted to, so he felt absolutely no shame for sucking him down again, swallowing when the tip touched the back of his tongue, and pulling him deep into his throat. He had barely hummed when he felt the length in his mouth pulsing, the man above him gasping and calling out his name. He allowed Sebastian to thrust reflexively as he rode out his high. Ciel obligingly sucked and licked the softening cock until Sebastian pulled back with a sudden, "Hah, too much!" The vampire leaned back against the bottom of the couch as he calmed down, eyes locked onto the Were hungrily.

Ciel smirked like the cat who got the cream, tail twitching happily. He couldn't help but ask, "See something you like?"

Sebastian's red eyes practically glowed and he rose up over the smaller man. He ignored the taunt in favor of continuing their game. "I hate to inform you, Mister Phantomhive, but that's not how temperatures are taken."

"Oh?" Ciel batted his eyes innocently. "My mistake."

"Allow me to demonstrate," Sebastian said professionally before knocking Ciel onto his back and stuffing two wet fingers deep into him.

"Gah! Jesus – fuck – Sebastian –" Ciel gasped random words inarticulately. The vampire had his hips firmly pinned with a hand on his stomach and was going to town between his legs, the rough treatment turning him on more than it had any right to. "What are you – aahhh!" A third finger was added and they curled to rub roughly against his prostate, making him keen inarticulately. The pleasure was so sharp it hurt.

"Do save all questions for the end of the performance, will you?" the vampire asked politely. Between one breath and the next the fingers were gone and Ciel was filled with something much thicker. His body spasmed involuntarily, as confused as he was by the sudden change. Sebastian groaned lowly as Ciel's walls twitched and squeezed him tightly. He rested his weight on his arms, palms planted on either side of Ciel's head, giving the smaller man time to adjust. A minute later, slim thighs crept up his hips and ankles locked behind his back, which Sebastian took as a sign to move. He pulled out slightly and shoved back in, grinding their bodies together when he bottomed out.

"Ngh! God!" Ciel panted. "More."

Sebastian did it again, pace slow and deliberate.

" _More_ ," Ciel demanded again, pulling back himself and crashing them together harder. A phone rang up on the couch and he snarled, "And don't you dare answer that."

Sebastian huffed a panted laugh, increasing his pace. "Wasn't even thinking about it."

"Good," Ciel breathed between having the air knocked out of him. He gave a vicious twist of his hips, knocking Sebastian out of rhythm. The vampire snarled and flipped him over, sitting up on his haunches and slamming Ciel's back to his chest. He spread the Were's thighs wide with his own and sank back in. Robbed of leverage, Ciel could do nothing but take what Sebastian gave him. He lifted his arms and twined them behind Sebastian's neck just to have something to hold on to.

The vampire busied his mouth on the pale neck and shoulders in front of him, licking, sucking, and nipping, careful not to draw blood. He wanted to – oh _God_ did he want to – but he wouldn't put it past Ciel to bring things to a screeching halt if he did so without permission. It was exquisite torture. Despite not technically needing to breathe, he found himself panting heavily as he tried to simultaneously indulge and restrain himself. He wrapped his arms tighter around Ciel's waist and pulled the Were down harder to meet his thrusts, shivering at the way the soft tail rubbed over his left hip. "So beautiful," he whispered against Ciel's neck, looking down the long line of his body at his bowed out chest and straining cock, bouncing with every thrust. "Touch yourself for me."

A bit self-consciously, Ciel reached one hand down to wrap around himself, hissing at the pleasurable sensation. He rubbed slowly at first, paying special attention to the dripping head. Eventually he held his fist still and let the force of Sebastian's thrusts push him in and out of his own hand, slick precome easing the way.

"Mm, that's hot," Sebastian breathed in his pointed ear, tickling the fur with the tip of his tongue. "Can you come for me?"

Ciel's cheeks burned and he was glad he didn't have to look into Sebastian's eyes. "I …"

The vampire chuckled. "Don't get shy on me now. Let me give you a hand." With that, he tilted them so that Ciel's knees were once again on the ground and he could rest his free hand on the rug to steady himself. Sebastian took one hand off Ciel's hips and added it to the Were's own, thumbing over the swollen tip to make him mewl. "That's it, just let go."

Ciel canted his hips to get the right angle and pushed back hard, slamming the head of Sebastian's cock into the right spot. "There," he panted. The vampire followed his direction, giving a series of swift shallow thrusts to push Ciel over the edge before burying himself deep to reach his own end. Eyes closed, he mouthed at the nape in front of him, following Ciel down as the Were collapsed. "Heavy," Ciel grunted.

"Tired," Sebastian said, mimicking a yawn. "I think I'll just sleep here."

Ciel wriggled ineffectively, well and truly pinned. "You bastard," he huffed lazily, resigned to his fate. "I know I'm too bony to be comfortable."

Sebastian hummed happily and nuzzled the head under his chin. "Love you anyway."

Ciel stiffened at the L-word. Reading his discomfort, Sebastian shifted off and Ciel rose to his knees. Blue eyes examined him silently, as if weighing the truth of his words. Sebastian kept himself carefully open and relaxed. Eventually, Ciel must have found whatever he was looking for, because he simply nodded and said, "Going to shower."

Things were strangely peaceful. He allowed Sebastian to hold him until he fell asleep and actually thanked him for breakfast the next morning. It wasn't quite an "I love you, too" but it was a start.

Ciel was still sitting at the table, one hand scrolling through the news on his tablet, the other resting suspiciously close to Sebastian's when his phone rang. A bit of shuffling around and some intense searching later, he finally extracted it from the couch cushions to see six missed calls from Elizabeth. His eyebrows rose in surprise, wondering what the hell was so important that she'd been calling all night. He looked questioningly at Sebastian, who shrugged, and hit **DIAL**.

"Where have you been? I've been calling you for hours!" Lizzy shouted into his ear instead of 'hello.'

"Gah!" Ciel jerked the phone away from his face, looking at it as if it had bitten him. "What's wrong with you? I was busy."

Lizzy huffed. "While you were 'busy' Azzurro was murdered!"

"What!" he shouted back.

"Ack! Fine, no more shouting," she said, ear ringing from his exclamation. "Someone shot him last night."

"W-what?" Ciel asked disbelievingly. They had caught the killers, hadn't they? He was certain they had. They went to the police station and everything … right? "Please tell me I didn't imagine two white-haired men named Charles?" he begged, eyes closed.

"No!" she said quickly and emphatically, not wanting to cause a crisis. "They were definitely not imaginary."

Ciel relaxed a bit at her confirmation. "Did one of them get loose?"

"No," she said, voice wavering. "The pack executed them after we left. Azz called me to let me know. I guess he thought it would make me feel safer because of what Grey did to me."

Ciel exchanged glances with Sebastian. He set the phone down between them and turned it on speaker, though the vampire could have heard well enough without. "What happened to Azzurro, then?"

"They don't know. His human partner, Willins or Wiggins or whatever, called me because I was the last number in his phone and told me that he had been shot. They suspect it was a hunting accident … but Ciel, I think this is another one of the supernatural serial killer murders."

Eyes once again locked on Sebastian's, Ciel nodded. "Yeah, me too. I knew something didn't add up about their story." He paused, then offered, "Do you want to say with us until we figure this out?"

Lizzy sighed. "I do, but I can't. I have to work."

"I think your boss will understand."

"He really won't. Thanks, though."

"Seriously, Lizzy, it's not worth your life. I know Grey was the one who attacked you, but if this is related …" he trailed off, leaving the implication that she was on their radar unspoken.

"I know," she said seriously, "but I'll be okay. It's a super short drive to work. Oh, and tell Sebastian thank you for dropping my car off; I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome," Sebastian said.

"Oh! Hi. I didn't know I was on speaker."

"Lizzy!" Ciel interjected, not letting her deflection slide. "I'm not playing around. They know who you are and they've already tried to kill you once. We're not going to let you run around alone and unprotected. Lock your doors, pack your shit and, sit tight. Sebastian and I will be there to pick you up in an hour."

"Don't you fucking dare!" she snapped back, voice hard, stunning Ciel to silence. "I'm not some cheap toy you need to safeguard; I'm an adult and I can manage myself, thank you _very_ much."

"Lizzy …" he said softly. He looked up at Sebastian who looked just as surprised by her outburst as he was.

She sighed loudly. "Look. I shouldn't have yelled, but I really hate it when people try to control my life. I appreciate you concern but I'll be fine. I'm working the early shift today so I can come over after four if you want me go over the research with you?" she offered as an olive branch.

"Sure. We won't turn down another set of eyes."

"Cool." She hesitated, as if debating whether or not to apologize before blurting, "See you later," and hanging up.

"Yeah, later" he said to the dead air. "That was …"

"Strange?" Sebastian suggested.

"To put it mildly," Ciel agreed, shaking his head. "I don't even know anymore. Nothing about any of this makes sense to me."

"You're not alone on that," Sebastian reassured him. "I didn't expect there to be two killers, much less three – or more," he added as an afterthought. For all they knew, there was an entire Were-killing cult out there.

Ciel scrubbed his face with his hands. "Yeah, and the whole thing with Lau being dead and my memory being shit makes it hard for me to trust anything. I don't know what I've forgotten or imagined. I mean, does it seem like Lizzy is acting weird to you or is it all in my head?"

Sebastian shook his head. "Miss Elizabeth does seem a bit wound up, but it's understandable with everything that has gone on recently. I seem to remember you were high-strung and emotional at that age, too."

"Stuff it," Ciel muttered, knowing he was right. "See? I can't trust myself."

"Why? You noticed Elizabeth was acting differently. That is good; it shows awareness of your environment."

"And my paranoia that it means she is more connected to this than we originally thought?"

"Caution. It's good to be cautious."

Ciel snorted. "I just don't know how I can keep doing this. Double, triple, _quadruple_ guessing everything I see or think is driving me crazy. I wasn't so bad before I knew what was going on, but now …" he trailed off. Sebastian seemed to know what he meant, though, and leaned in to give him a comforting hug. The vampire planted a firm kiss on the crown of his head.

"We should go see Ran Mao."

Ciel jerked back. "No we shouldn't."

"This is obviously going to weigh on you until we resolve it, so let's go make some progress."

"Um, _hello_ , werewolf serial killers? I'm not getting rid of our connection until people stop trying to kill me."

Sebastian patted his knee reassuringly. "I haven't forgotten, I just don't think it can be broken that easily. We have eight hours until Elizabeth will arrive. Rather than sitting around stewing, I think it would be better to set the wheels in motion to find your cure."

Ciel rolled that idea over in his head and really couldn't find fault with it. Even if Ran Mao did come up with a quick fix, they didn't have to do it right away, so he agreed.


	9. Stab Stab, Bang Bang

Within ten minutes of their arrival at Kong-Rong, Ciel was already regretting his agreement and finding many faults with this plan. Instead of the bright, peaceful back room he'd become accustomed to through his previous visits, he was subjected to one of the curtained seating pits and everything that went with it. The day's ear-punishing music seemed to consist of electronic Korean gangster rap (if such a thing existed) but at least it didn't smell quite so strongly of illicit substances.

Ciel traded pained expressions with Sebastian as Ran Mao worked. She sat tranquilly next to Sebastian, head bobbing slightly with the beat as she took measurements, asked questions, and looked things up on her mobile device. There was a little stabbing, just a single pinprick on his finger to drop his blood on a leaf to check for … leafy things? He had no idea. She didn't seem happy with the result, though, as it led to furious typing and a long silence.

Ciel shifted for the hundredth time. He'd run out of things to do to entertain himself long ago and had resorted to counting lightbulbs. "Can we g–?" he started to ask.

"Sit," she said immediately.

"Do you even need us anymore?"

She gave him a long, examining look. "Yes." She turned back to her screen without further explanation.

With a frustrated huff, Ciel threw himself back onto the cushions and glared to express his displeasure. Sebastian patted his leg absently, attention fixated on the screen of his phone where he was playing some cat-based game Ciel hated on principle. He didn't want to be stuck in here doing _nothing_ ; he wanted to be out there solving their Were-killer problem.

The beginnings of a thought tickled the back of his brain but failed to fully form, irritating him even more. He chased after it, but it flitted away like smoke through his fingers. After a few futile minutes of trying to get it back, he resigned himself to sitting silently and trying not to think.

Ciel was about to scream with boredom when his phone chimed.

Lau: **remmbr wht i said?**

He stared at his phone in horror, for the first time realizing that he was hallucinating while it was happening. He blinked to clear his eyes and looked around to see that everything else was normal. Ran Mao was typing. Sebastian was swiping. The shitty music was playing. He nervously looked back at his screen to see "Lau's" message still displayed as clear as day.

 _What did he say?_ Ciel tried to remember. If Lau was in his head, then his own mind must be trying to tell him something. He didn't know if that made Lau a projection of his subconscious or what, but he felt like he was on the verge of realizing something important.

Ciel closed his eyes and thought back. It was the day he got shot. He was sitting across from Lau in the back room and he could see the hanging lanterns, pink potted flowers and fluttering tapestry clearly in his mind's eye. He remembered the man's eyes had opened, and how uncomfortable that had felt … but what did Lau _say_? His face scrunched up in concentration. He had said that he wasn't the killer – which was obvious and clearly not the big revelation Ciel had been looking for, so he pushed it aside. What else?

His eyes popped open with realization. _Tai-Lee was not a victim of the werewolf killers._

It was glaringly obvious now that he thought about it. She was the only non-Were; of course she wasn't one of theirs. Hell, Phipps had even said as much and he'd immediately dismissed it as part of whatever the man was really hiding. It was so obvious that his damaged brain had figured it out subconsciously days ago and was fighting to make him see.

That meant they had another murderer to find.

His head snapped over to look at Sebastian and share this revelation – but the words caught in his throat at the sight of Ran Mao on his other side. She had also looked up at his sudden movement. He really didn't want to say anything about this with her sitting right there so he shook his head at Sebastian and turned away, muttering "Later" so softly he couldn't hear it himself. The vampire could, though, as evidenced by his nod.

"We really should be going," Sebastian stated politely. "What would be a good time to come back and work on this again?"

Ran Mao frowned. "This is a lot of work. I've almost got your solution."

He folded her hands gently in his, assuring her, "I know, and you are doing a wonderful job. We're not judging your speed at all; we simply have plans to meet a friend and don't want to stand her up."

She pushed her mouth to the side and considered him for a moment, like a mother wondering whether or not she wants to bother correcting a mistaken child. She tilted their hands over to look at his star. "Very well. Just so you know, you're the problem."

Sebastian's eyebrows rose. "I am the problem?"

She nodded. "If we remove your _mofa_ , his will fade away."

He blinked at her silently for a moment, absorbing this. "And how would we do that?"

She shrugged. "Not sure yet. Just know that we need to get rid of it." The way she studied Sebastian made Ciel think she did know but they wouldn't like it.

He waited until they were in the truck to share: "Lau texted me."

Sebastian froze in the middle of putting the vehicle into gear. He turned to examine Ciel's face. "Ciel, you know Lau is not –"

"Not real, yes, yes," he said quickly, waving a hand. "I remember that part."

"I see." Vaguely reassured, the vampire got the car on the road. "What did he say?"

Ciel snorted. "Nothing, as always. 'Lau' never _tells_ me anything, but he did make me realize something I think I figured out a while ago: Tai-Lee is not one of our serial killers' victims."

Sebastian hummed, giving the idea some thought. "Go on."

"Well, obviously, she's not a werewolf."

"Obviously," Sebastian agreed dryly.

"Phipps even said as much. I see now that he was protecting the identity of a third Were killer by lying about Betty, so there's no reason not to believe his claim that they only killed 'wolves." He paused before asserting, "This means that someone else stabbed Tai-Lee for a reason completely unconnected to the werewolf murders. And our most likely suspect is now …"

"Ran Mao," Sebastian finished.

"Exactly."

"Well," the vampire said after a moment of silence. "That complicates things."

Ciel snorted. "You think? I do want to get my head fixed, but not if she's going to scramble my brain or murder us in the process."

"Understandable concerns," Sebastian noted, "however, she doesn't know that we suspect her. She thinks _we_ think Tai-Lee is part of the serial killer case."

Ciel lifted his brows and tilted his head in surprised agreement. She had been markedly more cooperative after he explained that he was looking for a serial killer and not investigating the shop, now that he thought about it. "Okay, so what do we do? I don't want to start investigating her until after she fixes me so she won't find a way to screw us over, but I also don't want to get fixed until after we investigate her so she can't kill me. See the problem?"

Sebastian chuckled. "Indeed, but there's nothing saying Ran Mao _is_ the murderer. As you just said yourself, we haven't started investigating that angle yet. Since it's not part of the other deaths, why don't we put it off to the side for now? Whoever killed Tai-Lee appears to have done it as a one-off and used the other murders to hide his crime; I don't think that person has any plans for more so there's no harm in waiting."

Ciel grunted noncommittally and watched the trees fly by as Sebastian drove.

\---

Ciel and Sebastian arrived home four hours before Lizzy got off work. Despite what they agreed in the car, they found themselves speculating about Tai-Lee to pass the time. Lizzy's grade school arts-and-crafts murder board was still in Ciel's dining room (though with significantly more doodles and glitter than he remembered), so he moved Tai-Lee's poster to the opposite wall to separate her from the werewolves.

"Suspects?" Ciel asked, chewing on the cap of a closed marker.

"Aleistor Chamber?" Sebastian suggested with a smirk and playfully lifted brow.

"No," Ciel responded immediately.

"He does believe she gave him magical herpes," the vampire said with a (mostly) straight face.

Ciel groaned. "Still no."

"You can't discount the man just because you don't want to talk to him again."

"I'm not. I'm excusing him from this and all further discussion because he's a moron who clearly has nothing to do with any of this. Besides, he has an alibi, so _no_."

"Very well. Who do you suggest?"

Blue eyes leveled an unimpressed look at him. "Ran Mao. Obviously. She knew Tai-Lee was cheating on Lau, whom she seems to hold in high regard, she is more than capable of stabbing someone her own size, and they worked at the same location. Motive, means, opportunity. Q.E.D."

Sebastian hummed. "Not bad. However, why would she wait?" At Ciel's questioning look, he explained, "Lau was already dead. If Ran Mao wanted to protect him from Tai-Lee, why did she wait until _after_ Lau died to kill her? The point would have been moot."

 _Oh yeah_ , Ciel realized with a start. It was hard for him to remember that the real Lau had been gone for over a month when they talked frequently in his head. "Maybe she killed her out of spite? Or revenge?"

"I would normally suggest some Romeo and Juliet-esque suicide, but Lau died accidentally and/or of natural causes and I doubt Tai-Lee could have stabbed herself multiple times."

Ciel huffed. "It would be stupid to blame his death on her cheating anyway. I retract my suggestion."

"Don't be hasty. She does still have the means and opportunity. A motive may turn up when we question her." Ciel shrugged and handed over the marker so Sebastian could make the necessary additions to Tai-Lee's sheet. The vampire accepted it with two fingers and wiped Ciel's drool off on his trouser leg, staring at the tooth marks disapprovingly. "Did you have to gnaw it?"

Ciel felt his face heat. "Shuddup, I was thinking."

Sebastian shrugged and turned his attention to the poster. "I'm not covering for you."

"It's a marker. Who cares?" The vampire looked pointedly at Lizzy's painstakingly organized box of supplies and Ciel winced. "Fine. I'll get her a new one if it bugs her, _mom_."

Sebastian added Ran Mao's name to Tai-Lee's sheet in his flowing script with bullet points of their suspicions. "Anyone else?"

Ciel chewed his bottom lip as he thought, eventually shaking his head. "No. The Grey Wolves genuinely don't seem to care about the witches enough to deal with them, much less murder them. Even Harry, who actually went multiple times, couldn't remember who did his readings."

"So, just Ran Mao and Aleistor then?"

Ciel groaned and waved a hand. "Fine. Add him if you want, but I'm telling you it wasn't him."

Sebastian added Aleistor Chamber's name with an obnoxious squeak of marker and completely unnecessary flourish around the words **HERPES HEX**. Ciel rolled his eyes and occupied himself with doodling on a notepad while Sebastian contemplated the various boards as they waited for Lizzy.

"Who wants sandwiches!?" Lizzy called in greeting as she burst unceremoniously through the front door an hour later without so much as a knock.

"I would _murder_ for one," Ciel responded immediately, just now realizing he'd somehow managed to skip lunch. Sebastian was knocked out of his thoughts by Ciel's exclamation and looked a bit chagrinned. "Don't," the Were said to forestall any apology. "I didn't even realize it myself and I'm the one who needs to eat."

Lizzy followed his voice into the dining room and plopped an oversized bag on a clear corner of the table. "I've got corned beef, turkey, club, BLT, and ham and cheese." She plucked two off the top. "The strawberry chicken is mine, though."

"Good _god_ , woman," Ciel intoned, staring in wonder at the sheer amount of food. "What army are you feeding?"

She settled herself down onto a chair and shrugged, unwrapping one corner of a package to expose her food. "Today was a clean-out day. All this stuff was going to get tossed if I didn't take it." Ciel wasn't one to argue with free food. He gave his own shrug and grabbed a BLT. "Hey, why's Tai-Lee over there by herself?" Lizzy asked as soon as she spotted the gap in their timeline.

"We don't believe she is part of the Were Killer's work," Sebastian answered for Ciel, whose mouth was full.

"Because she's a witch?" Lizzy asked before taking a bite.

"Yes. Also, Phipps went out of his way to make sure we knew she wasn't one of theirs and she really doesn't fit their MO."

"Betty doesn't either," Lizzy pointed out.

The vampire lifted a hand to concede the point. "True, but he did at least take credit for that one."

"Dunno if I believe it, though," Ciel muttered. "Something felt off about his confession."

Sebastian nodded. "I agree, but I think that had more to do with the third man they were covering for."

Lizzy glanced around at their work thoughtfully as she chewed. "So you think there's a third, wait, fourth killer out there?"

Ciel nodded. "We think someone tried to sneak Tai-Lee's body in with the others and hoped no one would notice."

"That would be pretty crafty, pinning a kill on a serial killer. It's not like anyone would notice," she said with a note of admiration.

"We sure almost didn't," Ciel muttered as he grabbed another wrapped sandwich indiscriminately.

"Hey, that's pretty," Lizzy said, pointing with a spare pinky at Ciel's notepad. "I didn't know you could draw."

He shrugged and brushed it off with, "Bored."

"What is it?" she asked, craning her neck for a better look.

He pushed it closer so she could see. "Just something I saw at Kong-Rong." He had roughed out a shaky dragon surrounded by flowers. "It was on a vase."

"Urn," Sebastian corrected automatically.

Ciel waved his hand dismissively. "Vase, urn, whatever. It was a little lidded pot." He froze halfway into his next bite, eyes cutting to Sebastian. "Did you say _urn_? Like, dead-body-ashes _urn_?" The vampire nodded and Ciel swallowed. A whole lot of things suddenly made sense. "Fuck."

Lizzy looked between them with interest. "What? What'd I miss?"

Ciel put down his sandwich and rubbed his forehead. "Just me being a dumbass. Every time I asked to see Lau, Ran Mao sat me down at the table with that urn and walked off. I thought she was going to go get him when she'd already brought me to him. Stupid!" he berated himself. "She wasn't looking at a secret door; she was looking at the _urn_." He tapped his finger on the dragon. "Lau had that tattooed on his arm." At least, the Lau in his head did. He was pretty sure the real Lau must have for his subconscious to make that connection.

"And Ran Mao's the manager, right?" Lizzy asked. "I see her name on Tai-Lee's poster."

"Yeah. She's my prime suspect."

"It's a nice change of pace from his previous Chamber fixation," Sebastian noted mildly.

"Shut it. This time I'm sure."

"We haven't even questioned her," Sebastian pointed out.

"We will and you'll see," Ciel insisted. Sebastian fought the urge to roll his eyes at the Were's stubborn single-mindedness.

"Well, that's one concern down," Lizzy noted to break up their bickering. "What about the Were Killer?"

"What about him?"

"Or her," Lizzy added pointedly. Ciel conceded the point with a nod of his head. "And what are we going to _do_ about them?"

"I really don't know," Ciel said shaking his head. "You?"

Lizzy flopped back in her chair and folded her arms. The previously broken one was still a little discolored, but she seemed to be moving it well enough. "I talked to Marv today. He said the Grey Wolves scoured the forest to find Phipps and Grey and then did it again after Azz was killed. There was nothing to suggest more than two people were ever out there."

"Helpful," Ciel muttered.

"Actually, it kind of is," she said, ignoring his sarcasm. "It means whoever the third man is has a house here or near enough to drive in."

Sebastian was pleasantly surprised. "Well done Miss Elizabeth!"

Ciel blinked, not following. "How's that helpful?"

Lizzy cocked her head. "It means we can look up property and rental records." He still looked confused, so she added, "We'll just have to check everyone who lives or rents here to find the killer. It will be a couple thousand people, but we can do it. I say we start with the rentals and newest purchases; I don't think anyone who's lived here for a long time would suddenly snap like this."

"I concur," Sebastian said.

"I … yeah," Ciel added, seeming uncertain. "Sounds good."

The vampire eyed him, but didn't press it. "Very well, here is my tablet." He passed his much lighter, sleeker device over Ciel's head to Lizzy. "I trust you can pull them up?" She nodded, setting to work instantly. Sebastian turned his attention back to the Were boy. "And you, mister, need to rest."

"What!" Ciel demanded. He looked out the window at the bright sunlight. "It's the middle of the damn afternoon."

"You've had a trying day and you didn't get much sleep last night."

Ciel scoffed. "Oh yeah? And whose fault was that?"

"Regardless, you are mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted. Go lie down. I'll wake you if we find a name."

Ciel crossed his arms stubbornly. "No."

"You're being childish. Just go take a brief nap and you'll feel better."

"I'm only being childish because you're _treating_ me like a child. I'm not taking a nap in the middle of the day like a toddler."

"You're of no use when you can't think straight," Sebastian said diplomatically. "The sooner you recharge your battery, the sooner you can help us out."

"I am not going to slink off for an afternoon lie-down while the adults work," he insisted with a stubborn tilt to his chin, daring Sebastian to keep pressing this.

Lizzy slapped a hand on the table. "I don't give two shits who takes a nap or not! I'm trying to work here. _Both_ of you go in the other room and bicker where I don't have to listen." She skewered them with a glacial green glare that meant business.

Ciel stared at her with wide eyes before muttering, "Sorry," and beating a hasty retreat. Sebastian followed close behind to make sure he actually laid down. The little Were toed off his shoes and crawled up onto the bed, but he didn't pull a blanket over himself. He curled up on one side and frowned at the wooden wall silently, willing the world to make sense. The bed dipped and an arm wrapped around his waist, pulling him back against Sebastian. "I don't know what's going on," he finally admitted petulantly.

"Elizabeth is trying to find the killer," Sebastian explained simply.

Ciel nodded, finding that explanation easy enough to wrap his brain around. "Okay." He breathed deeply for a few minutes. "I hate that I'm like this. I know I should understand what's happening but I don't."

Sebastian squeezed him tighter and pressed his lips to slate gray hair. "I know, love. But's it's okay. It's going to be okay."

 _I'm scared_ , Ciel wanted to say, but didn't. Instead, he just snuggled deeper into Sebastian's hold and tried to relax. He knew he wasn't sleeping enough and was aware enough to admit it was having a negative effect on his already delicate mental state, but he hated knowing that he might be even more confused when he woke up and dreaded being told he'd forgotten something important. "Why are you still with me?" he asked suddenly. "I'm broken."

"You're not broken," Sebastian answered easily. "You're just sick and we're going to fix you."

"What if you can't?"

Unexpectedly, Sebastian chuckled. "You think this is the first time I've ever encountered senility? My dear boy, I'm _ancient_ ; I've watched countless generations age and die. It will take more than a little forgetfulness to drive me away. Besides, think of all the fun I can have pranking you and knowing you won't be able to remember it to hold a grudge."

Ciel snorted. "You would do that, too, wouldn't you?" The vampire hummed amusedly against his back and Ciel felt the tension slipping out of his body. Maybe a small nap would be okay so long as Sebastian was with him.

When he woke up, it was dark outside. The lamp on his side table was on and his clock read 8:35 p.m. Ciel rubbed his eyes and sat up. He knew that Lizzy was here and Sebastian was probably out there with her. It didn't _feel_ like he'd forgotten anything, but time would tell. 

"Hey sleepyhead," the cheerful blonde said in greeting. "Feel better?"

"Uh, yeah, I think." He looked from her to Sebastian, who stood over her shoulder. "What are you guys doing?" Sebastian led him into the kitchen and poured him a cup of coffee as he explained how Lizzy was combing the property records for suspects. It seemed so incredibly simple to him now that Ciel could not fathom how he'd struggled to understand it a few hours ago. He shook his head and drank his coffee in silence as he watched the other two work. Each had a highlighter and black pen that they were using on paper printouts. He watched Lizzy cross off three names on one sheet before asking, "Why are you doing that?"

She looked up with a smile. "It was Sebastian's idea. Anyone we've already alibied out gets crossed out. Anyone we think is suspicious gets highlighted. We'll check out the highlighted names first, then the plain ones. Well, after we look into the rentals, of course," she explained, gesturing to a neat stack of papers they'd apparently already gone through.

"Sounds good," he said with a note of approval. "Are you going to come with us?"

"Yeah, when I can. Max is still mad about all the time I missed recently, so I really can't take off, but I'll work around work," she said with a smile at her own word play.

"Lizzy …" he started tentatively, not wanting to rile her up again. "You're really good at this."

"Thanks."

"We could use your help," he said with a meaningful look.

Her eyes pinched a bit and she pointedly ignored his subtext. "Good thing I'm giving it, then."

"What I mean is, this is important. You would be helping more people by working with us than you will standing behind a bar."

With a sigh, she capped her pen, sat it down, and turned to face him fully. "Look. I'm not going to uproot my life to make you happy."

"I'm not –"

"No, my turn. You've already said your piece and now you're going to listen to mine." She waited for his nod before continuing, "You clearly don't think my life or job are important." She lifted a hand to keep him from interrupting. "And to be honest, they're _not_. In the grand scheme of things, tending bar and watching romantic comedies alone in my little house is nowhere near as important as saving people and changing the world or whatever else you want me to do – and that's why I _like_ it. I don't want to fight evil or be a government lackey and I sure as hell don't want to deal with pack hierarchies and machismo all day, every day. All I want is to be normal."

"You are normal," Ciel said once it was clear she was done.

Lizzy leveled a Are-You-Serious? look at him. "You do realize that all born werewolves are male, right?"

He tilted his head, curious why that was important. "…yes?"

She gestured to her body. "And obviously I am _not_ male." Confused, he nodded. "You don't understand," she said with a sigh.

"Someone must have bitten you to change you, right?" he asked, trying to follow where she was leading him.

" _Exactly_. I wasn't always like this. I never wanted to be a werewolf but one crappy teenage boyfriend was all it took to ruin my life. He wanted to be together forever, so he bit me. No talking about it, no explaining anything, he just fucking caveman-ed up and dragged me home to be his woman."

Ciel stared at her, aghast. That would have never happened in his pack growing up, but every pack was independent and some had fewer rules than others. "That's horrible," he eventually said.

"You think? I was seventeen."

"What happened after?" he asked.

"His parents …" she snorted, "well, they weren't too happy but there wasn't a lot they could do about it. They took me in and explained things to me. At first, I didn't believe them. It sounded like crazy cult stuff. After my first full moon …" she trailed off with a shrug. That would be enough to convince anyone. Ciel winced in sympathy. Changing was hard enough when he'd spent his whole life preparing for it; he couldn't imagine how scary it would be for it to just randomly _happen_ to him one day. "Anyway, I stuck around long enough to learn all I could from them before heading off on my own."

"What about your parents?" Ciel asked, caught up in her story. "Did you go home?"

She shook her head. "It was one of the conditions of me leaving. My parents knew about my boyfriend and almost had people convinced he killed me. I couldn't go back without telling them at least part of what happened, which would stir up trouble." She laughed humorlessly. "Even if I could, what would I have said? 'Hi mom. Hi dad. Sorry for not calling these past two years but I was at werewolf camp'? No, they're better off without me."

"Don't say that," Ciel said consolingly.

Lizzy shrugged. "It's true. And not the point. I just want to be left _alone_. I want to work my little job, live in my tiny house, and be happy. I'm not going to let another werewolf barge in and ruin the life I made for myself – be that you _or_ the killer." She sniffed and crossed her arms in finality.

Sebastian placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for telling us. I'm sorry that happened to you and we will try to be more sensitive in the future." Ciel nodded, secretly jealous of the vampire's ability to say the right thing.

"Psh," she said, waving a hand to lighten the tense mood. From the smile on her face, she had appreciated his response, though. "Don't get all serious on me, I just wanted to explain why I wasn't going to blow off work and join your crime-fighting team."

"So noted," the vampire said.

" _Anyway_ ," she said to move away from the uncomfortable topic, "I'm done with my half." She pushed her stack over to Sebastian. "Did you find any suspicious ones?"

Sebastian lifted his own pile and deftly flipped through to pull out two pages, one name highlighted on each. "Not suspicious per se, but single men who moved to the area within the past 6 months."

"I think I have one of those, too." Lizzy dug through her own pages to pull out her own page. "Okay, so three owners, and what'd we end up with, ten renters?" The vampire nodded and plucked the top few pages off their renters' pile. "That's a good start. I work a double tomorrow, but I have an hour free around three if any of them are close enough for me to check out."

Ciel shook his head. "No need. I think it would be best if Sebastian handled this on his own tonight. He should be able to break in and check things out while everyone's asleep. If anyone looks suspicious, we'll _talk_ to them tomorrow," he stared Sebastian down at the emphasized word. He was okay with playing fast-and-loose to find the murderer but drew the line at summary execution. Besides, they didn't want a repeat of last time's surprise. "Do you want to stay here so we can talk in the morning?" he offered Lizzy.

She shook her head. "Nah, I don't want to make that long drive in the morning. Besides, I wouldn't be able to do anything if you did find something. Just text me."

\---

Lizzy had checked her phone twenty times by noon the next day and was starting to get worried at its continued silence. Either they had caught the killer and everything was fine or they were in trouble and needed help. She was practically crawling out of her skin by the time her three o'clock break rolled around. She stepped out back and immediately dialed Sebastian's phone, assuming he would be more likely to a) hear it, b) pick up, and c) know what was going on.

"Miss Elizabeth. Is something wrong?"

"N-no," she stammered, surprised by the question. "I was just calling to check in and see what you guys found."

"Nothing," he said with a hint of emotion in his voice. Frustration? Disappointment? She couldn't tell.

"Oh, well, that's okay. I'm sure one of the other addresses –"

"No. I checked them all. Nothing even vaguely suspicious. I even spoke to the ones with the most hunting gear and none of them panned out."

"But that doesn't make sense," she said, disbelievingly.

"I have not checked the older residents yet. Our answer may lie there."

"You mean someone I _know_ could be the killer?" she whispered, looking around the deserted back lot and distant tree line.

"It is likely, yes. So do be extra cautious," he advised. "Would you like me to send Ciel up there?"

She heard a muffled protest in the background and smirked. "No, that's okay. I'll catch up with you guys when I get off at midnight. I –" she squinted at a flash of white in the trees.

"Elizabeth?"

The flash repeated when the wind blew and her shoulders relaxed. "It's nothing. I thought I saw something but it was only the wind blowing some trees." She laughed at herself. "I'm just being paranoid. I'll call you guys later." She watched the snowy branch move a few more times after she hung up and shook her head. This whole situation was making her jumpy.

The rest of her shift went normally and she'd completely forgotten about her unease when Ciel showed up after eight.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked when she was finally able to make her way over.

"Sebastian said …" he frowned.

"Sebastian said what?"

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter. He thought I should come up here while he finishes checking out the houses."

"Are you here to babysit me?" she asked suspiciously.

Ciel barked a laugh at that and crossed his arms. "Hah! If anything, I think he expects _you_ to babysit _me_ while he's busy. He'll stop by to collect me when he's done."

She considered his words for a moment before shrugging and allowing, "Okay, I guess we can watch each other until dad gets home, like we're kids or something."

Ciel snorted. "If you say so."

"What, you didn't have siblings growing up?"

"Nope."

"Lucky. Want your usual?" He nodded and she punched it into the P.O.S. "I shouldn't say that, though. My brother wasn't so bad. I actually kind of miss the jackass."

Ciel secretly thought she should go home but didn't want to start another argument so he just hummed and automatically sipped the Coke she sat in front of him. "Hey, what's on tap?"

Green eyes blinked at him before asking, "Should you really be drinking with the, you know?" She gestured to her own head in explanation.

He leveled an unamused look at her. "Lizzy. I am exactly the same person I was last week. Alcohol didn't rot my brain then and it won't now. "

She lifted her hands in surrender. "You're the boss. And nothing ever changes here, so our selection is exactly the same as the last eight times you asked." She sat his usual selection in front of him before wandering off to care for other customers. Most of her tables and cleared out by the time his food was up, so she was able to lean next to him and ask, "No news on the homeowners?"

Ciel shook his head. "Nothing yet."

Lizzy folded her arms. Going door-to-door hunting for the killer really was a bottom of the barrel Hail Mary plan that showed just how out of ideas they were. It was like picking up each individual strand of hay and checking for a needle – only for some reason they still weren't finding the needle. "That doesn't make sense," she complained.

Ciel laughed and chugged the last of his beer. "Welcome to my life. If anything ever went smoothly, I doubt I'd trust it."

Lizzy wandered off to finish her work, mind half-occupied with trying to solve their dilemma.

Near Midnight, Sebastian joined them. Lizzy had just finished cleaning up and was sitting at the bar next to Ciel. They could tell from the look on his face that he didn't have good news.

"How is that even possible!" Lizzy demanded before the vampire could open his mouth in greeting.

Sebastian arched a brow at her. "Was that an actual question or were you just shouting to shout?"

She looked a little embarrassed. "A bit of both, I guess."

To make sure Ciel was following along, he stated the obvious: "I didn't find our killer in any of the rentals or new purchases. I also did not find him at any of the older properties. Either I overlooked him completely or the person we are looking for is at one of the addresses we ruled out."

Ciel's brows drew together. "That doesn't make sense."

"That's what I said!" Lizzy exclaimed, feeling vindicated.

"Children," Sebastian chided, earning himself a dual glare. "Obviously we were wrong about someone."

"Or you weren't paying attention," Ciel muttered.

"I could have missed something," Sebastian allowed, face clearly saying it wasn't likely. "But chances are we were mistaken about one of our previous assumptions." The three exchanged glances before lapsing off into silence, each considering their own suspects.

"With his Chance-Betty-Phil connections, Azzurro would have been my top pick if he weren't one of the victims," Lizzy said finally.

Ciel made a sound of agreement. "I would say Ran Mao, but unless there is some Witch/Werewolf feud I'm not aware of, she'd really have no motive."

"And Aleistor has alibis for everything," Sebastian finished.

"And half a brain," Ciel muttered. "It's got to be someone we haven't even considered."

"Hey!" Lizzy said suddenly. "Why don't we look into Grey and Phipps?"

Ciel blinked at her, feeling twelve shades of stupid. That should have been the _first_ thing they did after capturing those assholes. He guessed they overlooked it because they were so surprised to find two killers in the first place that the thought of three never crossed their minds and when it finally did, Grey and Phipps were already dead. " _Yes_ ," he said emphatically.

"Another excellent idea, Miss Elizabeth."

Lizzy beamed. "Come on, let's go back to my place before Max kicks us out. It's the closest." She called a goodbye into the back before leading them out the front door and locking it behind them. "I'll meet you – oh!" She slapped a hand to her cheek at the feel of a sudden sting, the crack of a gunshot registering a second later. The wind roared in her ears and she almost hurled as she found herself suddenly pressed to the slushy ground between two cars, Sebastian looming protectively over both her and Ciel. She slapped her free hand over her mouth to help hold it in. "You're right, it's awful," she whispered to Ciel.

"Stay down," the vampire demanded as both Lizzy and Ciel crawled forward to peer around tires. They ignored him and tried to locate the shooter.

"Can you go get him?" Ciel asked quietly.

Sebastian's red eyes seemed to glow with an inner light as he surveyed the distant trees. "I'm not sure where he is and I don't want to leave you two unprotected."

Ciel rolled his eyes. "I can't die, remember?"

Sebastian tore his eyes away from their hunt to lock gazes with Ciel. "Not only _can_ you die, doing so will further damage your mind. I won't risk it."

"It's not up to you," Ciel whispered back stubbornly.

"Agreed," Lizzy added. "He just took a shot at us – again. It's time to end this. We know he's over there," she gestured vaguely to the northwest. "I'll take the left, Sebastian the center, Ciel the right. I say we fan out and hunt him down."

"Lord save me from werewolves," Sebastian muttered. "Give me a head start so I can draw his fire if he's sitting there watching. And don't take chances!" With that, he jogged slowly toward the distant trees, making himself an easy target should anyone be watching. The werewolves gave him ample time to check the tree line to make sure no one would shoot them as soon as they stepped out. With a look and a nod, both Weres let their animal spirits take over and ran toward their respective directions on four legs.


	10. Hotel Cali ... er, Toronto

The snow crunched under Ciel's paws as he ran through the woods. He could see through the darkness easily with his feline eyes, though most of his focus was concentrated on his nose. He could smell faint traces of human and found himself gravitating toward Sebastian's search line instead of angling off to the right like he was supposed to. Far over to the left he heard Lizzy crashing through the underbrush in her canine form and spared a breath to snort disapprovingly though his nose. His own progress was nearly silent as he gained on their suspect (and by proxy, Sebastian). The vampire had virtually no scent of his own, but Ciel recognized the faint traces of his soap, cologne, and detergent with easy familiarity.

"Stop or I'll shoot," a voice warned from ahead. Ciel slowed himself, rolling forward at a crawl to peer under a bush at the speaker. It was another tall, white-haired man dressed in all white. _Typical_. Ciel snorted to himself, wondering what sort of stupid cult they were dealing with.

Sebastian stood calmly a few yards away from the man, not concerned in the least. "I wouldn't bother, if I were you," he advised.

White Man Number Three smirked. "Oh, but I will."

One black brow arched in amusement, Sebastian lifted his hands and played along as if he were actually at the idiot's mercy. "Well then, I guess you've got me. What do you want?"

The White Man laughed, eyes carefully glued to Sebastian. He was alarmingly handsome and something about him set Ciel's teeth on edge. Possibly his too graceful movements, possibly the too smooth sheen to his skin. Like Sebastian, there was just something about him that screamed _Not Human._ "I want to eliminate all unnatural life, of course."

"Of course," Sebastian repeated amicably. "And since I am about to be … _eliminated_ , may I have the name of my murderer?" he inquired politely.

The man grinned, obviously greatly amused by Sebastian. "My, my, you are a step above those werewolf brutes, aren't you?" Sebastian lowered one hand to his waist to bow slightly before raising it again. "Alright, then. My name is Edgar Redmond." He pulled back the hammer on his revolver dramatically. ( _A revolver? Seriously?_ Ciel thought to himself). "I promise to make this quick, one gentleman to another, so I can deal with your friends. I could have sworn I'd already killed the little one already, though," he added thoughtfully.

Ciel caught the barest flash of Sebastian's eyes narrowing before he disappeared, moving faster than the Were could see. The crack of a gunshot rang out and Ciel jumped, eyes flicking around nervously as he registered that Edgar Redmond had disappeared as well. Had Sebastian dragged him off to kill him? Confused, Ciel slunk forward quickly towards where he thought they might have gone, giving another little jump when Lizzy brushed against his side. She must have found them from the other side. They both perked up at the same time at the scent of blood. Ciel jerked his head to the left, telling her to circle around that side. She ducked her chin once in a quick nod before bounding off in a flash of golden fur. She was still loud to his ears but a human probably wouldn't hear her at all. Ciel concentrated on making his own footfalls as quiet as possible.

He was not prepared for what he found in the next clearing.

Sebastian was snarling, fangs fully extended and bared, eyes glowing red. Ciel smelled blood but didn't see any on Edgar, who was slightly closer to him and seemed inexplicably unsurprised to be facing down an angry vampire. Ciel turned his gaze back to Sebastian, eyes widening at blood trickling down his left hand. If he squinted, he could just make out a wet patch high on Sebastian's arm. Edgar had … shot him? He looked back at the White Man in horror.

"Yes, I can injure even you … _vampire_ ," he drawled mockingly, gun pointed directly at Sebastian's chest. The two were once again facing off from a few yards away and Ciel could have cut the tension with a knife. He had just enough time to wonder what Edgar was waiting for before Sebastian flashed out of sight once again – and so did Edgar. They reappeared in each other's previous places, Sebastian now closer to Ciel. Edgar raised a mocking brow and Sebastian snarled, "What the hell are you?"

"A hunter, of course," he responded with playful ease.

Sebastian's eyes narrowed. "No, you're more than that."

Edgar's lips turned up in the barest of smiles. "So much more," he agreed. "But that's neither here nor there. Goodbye, vampire."

Ciel didn't think; he just acted. He flung himself at Sebastian, hitting the vampire square in the chest and using all 180 pounds of his panther body to knock him down with an impressively loud and echoing _thud_. There was a moment of fuzzy silence as the two stared at each other, eyes wide.

"Ciel?" the vampire asked in awe.

 _Why is he looking at me like that? Oh – yeah, he thinks I am a … I was a …_ his thoughts trailed off as everything went gray around the edges. _Why …_

Blackness

Ciel sucked in a gasping breath, sitting upright and screaming at the pain in his side.

"Shh, shh, shh, shh!" Lizzy hissed from his left, quickly pushing him back down onto a soft surface. His whole right side throbbed and burned like acid had been poured on it and Ciel reached a hand up to prod it, though it was intercepted before he could make contact. "No, don't mess with that."

"It _hurts!_ " he screamed, eyed closed tightly to fight the overwhelming pain.

A large, cool hand settled on his forehead and Ciel's eyes instantly snapped open to see Sebastian hovering over him. Warm artificial light lit the low white ceiling above him with a yellow glow. "Settle down now, love."

Ciel's legs kicked futilely and he squirmed uncomfortably. "Sebastian …" he pleaded pitifully. He didn't know what to ask for. He hadn't been this miserable in ages and didn't know how to deal with it. The pain just _stayed_ , hot and throbbing, not receding, just _there,_ and he didn't think he could take it. He would go crazy if it didn't stop soon.

The vampire's eyes pinched closed miserably at his own powerlessness and he kissed Ciel's forehead. "It'll be okay. I promise." He stroked his hand over Ciel's hair, pushing it back off his sweaty face. "You are healing; it's simply taking a little longer than usual." Sebastian walked around the cheap hotel couch ( _We're in a hotel room?_ Ciel realized belatedly) and sat on the coffee table by the injured Were's head. He pulled up the short sleeve of his fresh t-shirt ( _T-shirt?_ ) to show an angry red scab on his upper arm. "See? I have one, too."

Ciel blinked at it, hazy with pain. He knew Sebastian was trying to explain something to him, but he hurt too much to think. Instead, his eyes locked onto the glowing purple star on Sebastian's hand and watched it pulse stutteringly like a slow heartbeat.

Red eyes followed blue and Sebastian nodded. "That's right," he said encouragingly, as if speaking to a child. "I'm struggling to heal myself so there's less magic going to you." Ciel, who would ordinarily bristle at his babying tone, simply nodded, too out of it to register much beyond Sebastian's words. The vampire breathed a sigh of relief when Ciel drifted back off.

"What is this?" Lizzy asked, down by Ciel's feet. She held something glittery between her fingers, examining it curiously.

"I have absolutely no idea," Sebastian responded, watching her move it around. "Whatever it is, it's magical enough to injure a vampire."

Lizzy hummed, attention on the odd metal. It was incredibly heavy for its size and sparkled like a diamond in the lamp light. If she hadn't seen Sebastian dig it out of Ciel's side herself she never would have believed it was a bullet. "What was he?" she asked, not needing to specify.

"He wasn't a vampire. I would have said human, but no human can move like that." The vampire shook his head. "I'm honestly at a loss."

"Phipps and Grey weren't like him," Lizzy stated with a hint of uncertainty.

"I don't think so. Not fully, anyway," Sebastian agreed, turning his gaze back to Ciel, who was doing his best to watch them through his delirious stupor. "The Grey Wolves would never have caught them if they were. Though, I do have to say that their coloration and outfits are a clear indication of _some_ kind of connection."

"M'hm, like white wraiths," she murmured thoughtfully. "Is there such a thing? Until I moved here I didn't know anything other than werewolves existed."

The vampire shrugged, running his hand over Ciel's head soothingly. "Could be. I've seen a lot in my life: witches, Weres, mermaids, vampires – and in this little one's case, _half_ -vampires. Anything is possible."

"Mermaids?" she asked, incredulously. "Like, real live _mermaids_ with seashell bras and fish tails?"

Sebastian laughed, looking at her long enough to say, "Not the ones you're thinking of, no. They're angry little eels with Barbie doll torsos and more razor teeth than you want to think about."

"Ew." Lizzy shuddered. "Thanks for ruining my childhood with that image."

He chuckled. "Real life is rarely pretty."

She shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. "Would feeding help you heal?"

Sebastian looked at her thoughtfully. "To be honest, that's not something I've ever had to consider before. It takes immensely powerful forces to even harm a vampire and most of our wounds heal rapidly on their own. This situation is completely new to me."

"Lava cat," Ciel muttered, eyes still closed, face contorted in pain.

"What?" Lizzy asked.

Sebastian waved her off. "He's delirious. If you're offering, I'm willing to try. Anything to heal Ciel faster."

Lizzy plopped down on the table next to him and extended her right arm without hesitation.

"This might hurt," he warned.

"Everything worth doing does," she said lightly, bracing herself for the incoming bite.

Sebastian held her forearm with both hands and wasted no time latching on. He tried to be gentle but could feel her tense up with every pull. He ran his thumbs soothingly over her skin in apology. The blood itself was metallic and boring as always but the life force it carried tasted light and clean with a tinge of bitter sadness. His first instinct was to keep it brief, however, in the interest of rating its effectiveness, he decided to fill completely up. If nothing happened, he would know for certain it wasn't because he didn't take enough. After approximately a pint (maybe a smidge more – he _did_ want to be sure after all), he pulled pack and licked at the punctures until the flow slowed. He clamped his fingers over the wound firmly and lifted it above Lizzy's head.

She swatted him away and replaced his fingers with her own, arm still resting atop her head to limit blood flow. "I got it, I got it. Go fetch me a bandage. I'll watch Ciel." She scooted into Sebastian's vacated spot and looked intently at Ciel's sweaty face, paying special attention to the sliver of his strange glowing eye she could barely make out beneath its cracked lid. She had thought it was a trick of the light at first but she could have sworn she saw a star in it earlier.

"It's the other half of this," Sebastian explained, holding up his own flickering star. He paused briefly to wonder if the pulses getting stronger or if it was just wishful thinking before extending her bandage from the room's First Aid kit.

Lizzy took it with a muttered, "Thanks," and slapped it on easily. She looked from his hand to Ciel's eye, noting that they were flashing in sync.

Sensing her curiosity, Sebastian sat back down beside her and explained, "We were stabbed by a magic dagger." He hovered his hand over Ciel's eye to show how the marks lined up – or would if Ciel's eye was fully open. "It was intended to kill vampires but his packmate had a grudge and decided to test it out on Ciel."

Lizzy gasped. "Oh my God! What happened?"

Sebastian chuckled darkly. "You could say he learned a permanent lesson about stabbing vampires."

She arched a golden brow, not doubting that Sebastian would have expressed his displeasure violently. "I meant with Ciel and the dagger."

"Ah," Sebastian said in understanding. "Ciel … died." Lizzy's mouth rounded in a surprised little **O**. "And then he got better. Can I trust you to keep a secret Miss Elizabeth?" She nodded quickly. "Consider carefully, this is something you can never tell anyone else," he stressed pointedly, red eyes boring into her green. Lizzy's face hardened and she gave a firm nod. "New vampires are made by introducing a large amount of vampire blood into a mortal's system as they die. Normally, Ciel would have transitioned into a vampire. However, because he was killed with an improperly used vampire-killing dagger, he is stuck in between. Every time my magic heals him to the point of change, the dagger's magic flares up and fights it off. He's trapped in an eternal battle."

Lizzy stared at him with wide eyes. "That's …"

"Unusual?"

"Really fucked up," she finished. "So this transition-magic-thingie is what's screwing with his head?"

Sebastian stared at Ciel, watching him squirm uncomfortably on the sofa. "Possibly, or it could have no effect at all. He is almost ninety years old, after all. Dementia is perfectly normal for a man his age. Either our improper connection is causing this problem and removing it will cure him, or it's not affecting his mind at all and removing it will change nothing."

Lizzy looked sadly from one of them to the other, not knowing what to say. "Hey!" she exclaimed suddenly. "Is it just me, or are you both glowing more?"

Sebastian looked down at his hand were it rested on Ciel's. The flashes of light definitely _were_ longer now, no question about it. What were previously short, shaky blips had lengthened into long pulses with only brief breaks. Ciel was also thrashing around less, which he took as a good sign. Lizzy lifted the edge of Sebastian's sleeve and they both examined his wound excitedly. The deep, nasty gash had healed from a scab to a dark pink furrow. Sebastian blinked at it curiously, wondering if it would scar or keep healing. From the increase of energy going to Ciel, he supposed his body was almost done with it if it was sending energy away. He didn't care either way so long as Ciel healed, too. The vampire practically vibrated with excitement, perching on the edge of the table and watching Ciel with wide eyes.

Things felt … less horrible when Ciel finally found the strength to look around again. White walls, an unfamiliar room. Sebastian was frozen inches from his face, unblinking, unmoving, unbreathing, like a statue that had been carved just to stare at him. Ciel snorted and reclosed his eyes. "Creep. Where are we, anyway?"

"Toronto," Lizzy answered.

Ciel half-opened his glowing eye at that, brows drawn together. "Why the fuck are we in Toronto?"

"I thought it would be safer than going back to one of our houses. Whoever that guy is undoubtedly knows where we live and would have no trouble coming back to finish the job later tonight when our guards are down."

Satisfied, Ciel closed his eye with a grunt. He was impressed as always by her quick thinking. He was pretty sure he had been like that once. "What happened, anyway?" he worked up the energy to ask.

"You took a bullet for me," Sebastian said, tone somewhere between surprised and reverent.

"Obviously," Ciel grumbled. "How'd we get away?" His ears reported that it came out as _Howed we getta way_ , making him grimace a bit.

"Miss Elizabeth jumped on Redmond's back while he was focused on us. It must have spooked him. By the time I disentangled us to join the fight, he decided the odds were no longer in his favor and fled."

"But he was so fast," Ciel slurred tiredly.

Sebastian chuckled. "Fast or not, three-against-one is poor odds. I would have done the same thing myself if I were facing two werewolves and a vampire. As formidable as he seems, Edgar Redmond is not invulnerable and I seriously doubt he possesses enhanced strength, much less regenerative abilities. Before his little moving trick, I would have said he was pure human."

"And now?" Lizzy asked curiously.

He shook his head uncertainly and turned to look at her. "Enhanced human? That would be my best guess based on my observations tonight. His body is biological not magical, though he has clearly had some form of magic or other element worked on him."

"Weird," Ciel noted slowly, eyes drifting closed.

Sebastian regarded him fondly and retrieved a blanket to place over him. "Just rest, love. We'll talk more when you wake."

Ciel made an unintelligible sound and burrowed down into the cushions, able to relax now that the worst of the pain had subsided. When he opened his eyes again, the lighting had changed. The golden light of earlier had been replaced with soft blue filtering in around the edges of the curtains. It felt like early morning. He saw a long, dark form sprawled out in the chair perpendicular to him and assumed Lizzy was off sleeping in the bed, wherever it was. With a tired hum, he closed his eyes and tried to drift back to sleep.

"You're in a mess this time, aren't you?" Lau asked, making Ciel's eyes pop open. Upon realizing the dark from was _Lau_ , he immediately jerked up into a sitting position, gasping when his side pulled. "Oh, that looked painful. Maybe you shouldn't do it again?"

Ciel glared, hand pressed to his wound. Now that the overwhelming agony had faded, he could tell it was just a small spot on his back, not the entirety of his right side as he'd originally feared. "You're not real."

Lau tossed up a hand as if to ask _Does it really matter?_

Ignoring him, Ciel disentangled himself from the blanket and lifted his shirt. He tried to see his wound without twisting any more than necessary but it was in an odd spot. He settled for running his fingers over it, finding the area tender and puckered with a new scar. He looked back at Lau, who was sitting silently, observing him with closed eyes (if that was even possible). "Where are we?"

"A hotel in Toronto."

Ciel's dark gray brows lifted in surprise. "That's the first time you've ever told me anything new."

"Mm, not exactly. Lizzy told you last night; you just forgot."

"But you're part of me. How could you remember if I forgot?"

Lau's eyes opened a sliver. "How does any of this work, really? You're talking to yourself right now, you know."

An uncomfortable chill ran down Ciel's spine. It was a strange feeling knowing he was hallucinating and not being able to stop. He blinked hard a few times before giving up and shifting into a more comfortable position. "Where's Sebastian?"

Lau closed his eyes, folded his hands in his long black sleeves, and shrugged. "That we don't know."

"Back to being as helpful as usual, I see," Ciel muttered.

Lau smirked but didn't bother with a verbal response. Ciel let out a little huff and examined what he could of his surroundings. He was in a little sitting room with a sofa and two chairs. Off to his right was a tiny kitchenette and table. There were three doors: one was an exit, obviously, and he assumed the others were for a bathroom and bedroom. From the uncomfortableness of the cheap sofa, he would bet money that it pulled out into a bed. The suite was clean but minimal, the perfect place for three people to lie low for a few days.

"What?" he asked, irrationally irritated that Lau was still there.

"What-what?" the faux-Chinese man asked back playfully.

"Why are you still here? What do you want?"

The front door swung open to reveal Sebastian, arms loaded with hot coffee and bags of what had better be food. He looked around the space curiously and asked "Were you talking to someone?"

Ciel glanced briefly at Lau, who sat still and unmoving in the corner. "No, not really." His stomach grumbled at the smell of fried potatoes and sausage, propelling him toward the vampire.

"Careful," Sebastian warned, at Ciel's side in a flash. He had deposited the food on the little table before zipping over, allowing him to place both hands on Ciel in annoyingly unwanted support.

The little Were snarled, grimacing as his side pulled and fighting not to show it. "I'm fine, mom." He shuffled inelegantly across the small space, feeling like a zombie. Sebastian hovered over him the whole way, ready to snatch him up at a moment's notice. Ciel snorted. "Seriously, I'm glad you never had kids. You would be the worst helicopter parent ever." A tiny look of hurt crossed the vampire's face, almost immediately snuffed out as he turned his attention to unpacking the food. Ciel felt like kind of a jackass, but really didn't have the energy to get into the apology game today so he offered: "This smells great. Thank you."

A small smile ghosted over Sebastian's carefully neutral expression but the crash of the bedroom door opening forestalled any response the vampire would have made.

" _Food!_ " Lizzy growled in a sleep gravelly voice.

Ciel jerked, then jerked again as a wild creature launched herself at the table, sitting with both knees on a sideways chair and snatching up a wrapped package. "Ahh – oh, God!"

Pajamas askew, hair knotted, eyes puffy, Lizzy snarled at him before tearing into the sausage biscuit.

Ciel jerked back even further. "Sweet baby Jesus, it just gets worse."

"Fuck you," Lizzy garbled between bites, spraying flakes of biscuit across the table. She wiped the wrist of one greasy hand across her mouth and scooped up a little cup of fried potatoes, tearing into them with gusto.

Sebastian watched the display with barely concealed amusement, fingertips holding his grinning lips closed. Ciel looked at him pleadingly with wide eyes only to get a merry, "I suggest you start eating, too, if you want any of that." The little Were hesitantly selected a sandwich that was out of Lizzy's eye line and scooted it toward himself, trusting Sebastian to jump in and rescue him if things deteriorated. He cautiously drew it to his body and leaned back, sitting as far away from her as possible. She ignored him completely, engrossed in her third sandwich, movement now slowing to a less savage pace.

"What the _hell_ , Lizzy?" he asked in a shocked whisper.

She eyed him flatly. "What? I was hungry."

He raked his eyes over her disheveled state. "What's wrong with you? Are you sick or something?"

Her eyes narrowed. "I just woke up." She carefully wiped her fingers on a napkin before primly dabbing at her face as if she hadn't just gone full lion-on-a-gazelle at the table.

He took a careful bite of his own sandwich, considering her strange appearance. "Yeah, but your face …" he made a circular gesture and she arched a brow. "It's all … blotchy and stuff." With an irritated huff, she slammed down her napkin and stomped into the bathroom. Confused, he looked toward Sebastian in mute appeal.

The vampire chuckled, taking Lizzy's unoccupied seat. "You really have no experience with women, do you?"

Ciel blinked. "Um, yes I do?" he half-asked. "I mean, I've never _dated_ one but I've worked with them. And I'm friends with Lizzy." At Sebastian's amused silence, he asked, "What? Are they all like that in the morning?"

The vampire snorted. "Only when you criticize their appearance."

Ciel tilted his head at that and Lau snickered from far off in the corner, making Ciel jump. Great, the asshole part of him had understood Sebastian. He'd have to ask Lau to explain later. With a shrug, he dismissed the thought and tucked into the food Lizzy left, hoping the nutrition would do his injured body good. "Hey! You got hurt, too," Ciel exclaimed, suddenly remembering.

Sebastian nodded and shrugged out of his new jacket to lift the sleeve of his tee, showing off a fresh light pink scar.

Ciel gawped at it. "That's a scar!" he said stupidly.

Sebastian jerked his head to the side in acknowledgement, forgiving Ciel's surprised reaction as he somewhat shared it. He ran a black-tipped finger over it curiously. "It is odd, isn't it?"

 "No. I mean, yes, because it's on you," Ciel stammered, "but it's a normal little scar." He rucked up the right side of his own shirt and turned to show Sebastian his wound. "How about mine?"

The vampire stepped around the table and knelt down. He traced a jagged circle about three centimeters in diameter. "It's still pink here." He ran his fingers over a larger area before placing his whole palm over it, fingers spread wide. "But the scar stretches out to here."

"Geeze," Ciel breathed, once again futilely twisting in an attempt to see it. "Does it look bad?"

Sebastian smiled reassuringly and smoothed his hand lightly over it. "Not at all." _Not nearly as bad as it did last night_ hung unsaid in the air between them.

"Did I … die?"

Sebastian hummed thoughtfully and pulled Ciel's shirt back down. "Hard to say. Maybe? If you did, it wasn't for long."

Ciel pushed his mouth to one side, displeased with the vague answer. He slanted his eyes over to Lau, who was unhelpfully staring out the covered window with closed eyes like he could see through it. If the imaginary man's continued presence was any indication, Ciel _had_ died and fractured his mind even further. "Well, at least I woke up," he finally allowed, rolling his eyes. Ciel sipped at his coffee and wondered what he should be doing. He supposed one of the others would tell him if it was important.

The bathroom door opened with a puff of steam and Lizzy stepped out, freshly washed and dressed. Her blonde hair was dark with water and she had slicked it back into a neat pony tail. She wore a pair of trendy jeans and a – rather matronly, if he were honest – floral blouse.

"You look … nice," Ciel offered hesitantly, trying to get back into her good graces.

She sniffed and picked up her coffee, treating him to a slightly stiff "Thanks." She wasn't one to hold a grudge, though, especially not over something so silly. "Sebastian got you some new clothes, too, if you want a turn in the bathroom. You'll feel better after a hot shower."

Ciel nodded. That did sound like a good idea. He flicked a parting gaze at Lau before picking up the bag Lizzy pointed to and stepping into the humid room for his own shower. When he returned, Lizzy was set up at the table with a tablet, typing away. Sebastian was on the sofa next to Lau's chair, holding his coffee and watching the news.

"Ciel, you look so cute!" Lizzy exclaimed. "Great choices, Sebastian."

Ciel glanced down uncomfortably at his shiny dress shoes, gray slacks and black polo. "I look like the littlest old man ever," he complained out of habit. It was lightyears better than his old bloody, holey clothes, though, so he didn't kick up a fuss. It all fit perfectly, too.

"Oh, hush, you look nice," Lizzy chided. She scribbled a few notes on the hotel pad to her right before continuing whatever she was doing on the computer.

Ciel wandered over to Sebastian and sat next to him. The vampire offered up his untouched coffee (he only liked to hold them for warmth anyway) and Ciel accepted it gratefully. "Anything worth knowing?" he asked, looking at the TV.

"No." Sebastian smirked at the idea of anything more interesting than their current predicament being splashed across the news.

After a few minutes of seeing the same old politicians having the same old arguments, Ciel had to concede that there was nothing of interest there at all. He leaned forward to pick up the warped little silver ball from the coffee table. He vaguely remembered Lizzy holding it up last night and was surprised to find it actually was as sparkly as his pain-fogged mind remembered. It had an almost crystalline glitter to it but was undoubtedly solid metal. "What _is_ this?" he muttered more to himself than anyone else.

"Something magical," Sebastian said. " _What_ exactly, I don't know, but it's likely along the same vein as that star blade."

Ciel hummed wordlessly, rolling it between is fingers. It didn't hurt him at all to touch it. Then again, it hadn't hurt Sebastian to touch the star blade, either. He looked over at Lizzy and noted, "Your cheek healed."

She pressed a hand to it and turned to look at him. "You're right. I'd forgotten about that."

"Did it scar or anything?" She mutely shook her head, feeling the area with her fingertips to double check. Her skin had healed perfectly like it normally would. Curious, Ciel broke off a piece of the plastic lid on Sebastian's coffee cup and pricked the center of his left palm with the sharp point.

The vampire's red eyes immediately snapped to the bead of blood that welled up. "What are you –"

"Testing something." He sat the metal over his wound and waited for anything to happen. He was about to give up when he saw Sebastian's scar light up and it felt like the bullet zapped him. He immediately knocked the ball off and watched the blood fizz and smoke as if it were acid. Tiny wound that it was, Sebastian's magic was able to overwhelm it quickly even with the metal's interference. In less than a minute, he had a new pink dot of scar tissue on his skin.

Sebastian stared owlishly. Lizzy squinted from her seat a few feet away and asked, "What happened?"

"It only reacted when Sebastian's magic tried to interfere." He lifted his palm to show her the unbroken skin and tiny scar.

"Weird," she noted.

"Very." Ciel bent down and retrieved the bullet from under the coffee table, setting it back where it started with an oddly heavy _click_. He wondered if Ran Mao would know what it was. From what she'd said previously, her eastern magic was different from the western witches he was used to, but she might have an idea. She did live in an area with supernatural hunters who used it after all.

"What's wrong with that chair?" Sebastian asked suddenly.

Ciel looked down at the sofa he was sitting on then up at Sebastian, confused. "What's wrong with _what_ chair?"

"You keep looking at _that chair_ ," he explained, jabbing his finger at it in emphasis. "Why?"

Ciel blinked, not realizing he had been doing it. He glanced at Lau again and found the man smirking.

"Ciel?" Sebastian prompted when he was silent too long.

He whipped his eyes back to Sebastian. "It's nothing."

Sebastian examined his face thoroughly before turning himself to stare at the chair. Seeing nothing amiss, he looked deep into Ciel's eyes and argued, "It is not nothing. Tell me what's going on."

The Were scratched his arm uncomfortably and studied the speckled carpet. "I see Lau," he breathed in the smallest voice possible.

Sebastian's black brows rose like raven's wings. "You see Lau? Right now?"

Ciel chanced a quick glance back up and immediately returned his gaze to the floor. "Yes."

Sebastian exchanged a baffled glance with Lizzy. "What's he doing?"

"Watching me."

"Creepy," Lizzy murmured.

"Thanks," Ciel snapped, cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

"Can you make him go away?" Sebastian suggested.

Ciel shook his head, slate hair swishing with the motion. "No, I've tried." At Sebastian's concerned look, he shook his head again. "It's not important. He's not bothering me. I'm sure we have more important things to focus on."

"True, that," Lizzy agreed, turning back to her screen like Ciel hadn't just admitted to seeing dead people. Imaginary dead people. There was a baseline level of weirdness in their group that he supposed they all had to accept in order to function day-to-day.

"What are you doing, anyway?" Ciel asked.

"Well, I started by trying to look up what kind of creature that man could have been, but all I had to go on were magic bullets, super speed, and white hair. Nothing remotely fits. I gave up on that and have been hunting down anything to do with men named 'Edgar Redmond' in our area."

Ciel perked up hopefully. "Anything of interest?"

"Actually, yes." She picked up her notepad. "I found one Edgar Redmond who went to Cornell University."

"Um, okay?" He looked uncertainly at Sebastian, who shared his confusion. "How does that help?"

Lizzy was still smiling, as if waiting for him to ask that question. "In and of itself, it doesn't." She paused, but her pleased expression told him there was more. "What _does_ help are the Charles Phipps and Charles Grey in his graduating class."

"The other two white killers," Lau supplied helpfully for once. Ciel tried not to be too grateful as it was something he probably should have remembered on his own.

"The other two men," he parroted aloud.

" _Exactly_. All three of them went to university together."

"And possibly more than that," Sebastian added. "When we interviewed Phipps, he said he and Gray vacationed here as children. Who wants to bet the third member of their werewolf-hunting club did, too?"

"Mm, that's kind of a stretch," Ciel pointed out. "It's just as likely they formed their cult in America and brought Edgar here after college."

Lizzy let out a little gasp. "Or it would be," she interjected, "If Aleistor Chamber weren't Edgar Redmond's _uncle!_ "

"What!" Ciel, Sebastian, and Lau shouted in unison.

She picked up her tablet and spun it around to show them a news article about Alumni donations with a picture of the very photogenic blonds. Edgar had a tan and his hair was faintly yellow. It was a surprising contrast to the stark white of his coloration last night, but he was definitely recognizable. "The caption reads 'Recent graduate Edgar Redmond, class of seventy-nine, and his uncle Aleistor Chamber, class of fifty-four.'"

"So he _was_ involved all along!" Ciel shouted, punching the couch arm. "Dammit!"

"It explains where Redmond has been staying," Sebastian mused. "His name wouldn't be on a lease if he is visiting his uncle."

"And why Aleistor has all those alibis," Lizzy added. A flicker of doubt crossed her face. "I wonder if he's actually involved though."

"Seriously, Lizzy?" Ciel asked incredulously. "People get murdered every time his nephew shows up and tells him to go get an airtight alibi? Even if he's not actively participating, he's got to know what's going on."

"I'm with Ciel," Sebastian said.

"Me, too," Lau agreed.

"Would you shut up?" the Were snapped. "Not you," he explained to Sebastian's shocked expression.

Sebastian relaxed. "Lau?"

Ciel nodded.

"O-o-okay," Lizzy drawled, mildly freaked out. Apparently seeing imaginary people was fine; yelling at them was not. Ciel would try to keep that in mind. "Anyway, I think we should pay Aleistor a visit to figure out how he fits into all this."

"Agreed, though I suggest we rest up before making the trip. If he is involved, we may have a fight on our hands. If not, Redmond could still be there."

"Right." Lizzy nodded seriously. "Tomorrow we will go confront him and get to the bottom of this."

"If we don't all die," Lau added dreamily.


	11. Road Trip

"So, when were you going to tell me about your new form?" Sebastian asked as he drove them to Chamber's house the next day in Lizzy's SUV. Lizzy herself was in the back, tapping away on some device or another and Ciel had been staring silently out the windshield from the passenger seat for the past forty minutes, lost in thought. He smirked, surprised the vampire had waited this long to ask.

"I honestly forgot," he fibbed smugly. He had fully intended to spring it on the vampire as a surprise, just under less dire circumstances so that he could fully appreciate the usually-unflappable bastard's shock. Sebastian eyed him with a clear lack of disbelief. "Eyes on the road," Ciel reminded playfully. Sebastian rolled them before turning back around. His senses were so sharp he didn't really _need_ to stare at the road, but it put the others at ease so he complied.

"I didn't know they could change," Lizzy said with mild interest from the back seat behind Sebastian.

"It's not common," Ciel explained, face half-turned toward her. "It's not _rare_ or anything; it just usually takes a life-altering event to trigger it."

Sebastian sneaked his gaze back over to the little Were. "What was yours?" Ciel lifted both brows in an expression of _You have to ask?_ "Really?" Sebastian said, surprised. "So long ago?"

"Wait, what?" Lizzy asked, feeling left out. "What was it?"

Ciel scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed. "When I was twenty-one, my vampire aunt murdered my parents, burned down my house, killed my packmates, and tried to kidnap me." Lizzy gasped, slapping a hand to her mouth in horror. Ciel smirked. "Yeah. It gets worse. My pack didn't know she was behind it and blamed me instead so one of them murdered me – or tried to when this stalker stepped in," he said with a gesture to Sebastian, who muttered a displeased _Stalker,_ "and turned me into the fine freak you see before you today."

"Holy _shit_ balls!" she exclaimed, voice reverberating uncomfortably loudly in the closed vehicle. "Yeah, yeah I'd say that would do it." She had had no idea he'd been through so much. _And that was all when he was younger than I am now_ , she thought. Lizzy looked at him with a newfound respect. "Ciel … I'm so sorry …"

He waved a hand to cut off any pitying words that might follow. "It was a really long time ago. I'm over it."

She looked like she wanted to say something more, but pushed it down. "So … what were you before?" The sliver of Ciel's cheek and ear she could see blushed pink and he turned to look out the window. "Ciel?" she asked curiously. Sebastian chuckled.

"Nothing too different from what I am now," he answered vaguely.

"Except for size," Sebastian noted.

"Zip it."

"Size?" Lizzy asked. "So you were a smaller cat, like a lynx?"

"Think smaller," Sebastian suggested, amused.

"I swear to –"

"An ocelot?"

"Smaller."

"Sebastian –!"

"You weren't a house cat, were you?"

"A very _small_ house cat," Sebastian practically crowed.

Ciel folded his arms and sank down in his seat, fuming.

"A kitten!? Aw, Ciel! That's adorable!"

"It really was. Such precious little pink toe pads."

"I am going to bite you _so_ hard," Ciel muttered murderously to Sebastian.

"Don't be that way," Lizzy wheedled. "I think it's sweet. My spirit's a golden retriever, by the way," she informed Sebastian. "I didn't know if you got a good look the other night."

"I did indeed. You are a very … lovely animal."

"Sebastian hates dogs," Ciel shared to punish him.

"Hate is a very strong word," Sebastian mitigated quickly. "I simply prefer cats. And you are a lovely young Were lady, not a real mutt – er, dog."

She giggled. "It's okay. To be honest, I was terrified of vampires as a kid."

"But … you couldn't have known they were real?" Ciel asked, turning to look at her.

"Nope. I just watched a lot of horror movies and had an irrational fear that one would follow me home, break into my room at night, and try to suck my blood."

Ciel looked pointedly at Sebastian. "Gee, it's good to know the real thing is nothing like that at all." The vampire suddenly found the road very interesting.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Ciel asked, "Shouldn't we be planning or something?"

Lizzy hesitated slightly before saying, "We're going to stop at Lau's on the way in, pick up supplies at your house, and head to Chamber's." It had the well-worn air of a list frequently repeated.

Ciel sighed and rubbed his forehead. "How many times have I asked that?" Lizzy and Sebastian were both silent long enough for him to draw his own conclusions. "I'm sorry. I swear I'm not doing it on purpose."

"We know," Lizzy assured him. "It's okay."

Sebastian scooted a hand over to squeeze his thigh comfortingly.

Ciel couldn't help but feel frustrated and useless. He shifted his body to stare fully out the side window and caught a flash of white in the back seat. His heart leapt into his throat and he jumped to the conclusion that one of Lizzy's so-called White Wraiths had infiltrated their car, but it was only Lau. He narrowed his eyes and leaned around the headrest to glare fully at the man. Hallucination. Thing. Lau smiled pleasantly back, eyes closed. His long silk shirt was white with clumps of pink flowers today, worn over loose dark purple pants. Ciel wondered why an imaginary man felt the need to change clothing so often. Lau didn't say anything, though, so Ciel made a point of not starting an unnecessary conversation with himself in front of the others.

He was so busy not talking to Lau that he started when Sebastian pulled into Kong-Rong, paranoid that his hallucination had somehow influenced the vampire. "Why are we stopping here?"

Another delicate pause followed before Lizzy recited, "We're going to ask Ran Mao about the bullet, then go pick up supplies at your house and confront Chamber."

Ciel winced. He didn't remember any of it, of course, but he could tell from her tone this wasn't remotely the first time he had asked. "Right. Sorry." He jumped out of the car as soon as it stopped and leaned against it, futilely willing the cold air to perk his brain up and make everything work right.

"Stop fighting it," Lau advised. Ciel hadn't heard the man climb out – but he won't, would he? Hallucinations don't use doors. "You can't will yourself better."

Ciel ground his teeth and retorted childishly, "Isn't pink a girl's color?"

Lau looked down, lifting his arms slightly for a better look. "You would know. I'm in your head, after all."

"Tch," Ciel scoffed. He eyed the pink and white fabric in frustrated disgust. "Cherry blossoms grow on branches, not in clumps," he pointed out just to complain.

"They do, don't they?" Lau asked, seemingly genuinely interested by Ciel's inane observation for some reason. His eyes started to open when Lizzy's voice interrupted.

"I said, are you okay?" she asked, tugging on Ciel's jacket sleeve to get his attention. Ciel blinked hard at the empty spot Lau was standing in before turning to face her. She looked at him expectantly.

"Y-yeah." He shook his head. "Just … tired."

Lizzy's bright green eyes examined his face closely, clearly not buying it. "Okay, then. Let's go in." She tugged him forward, putting him between her and Sebastian like an especially ornery toddler prone to fits of wandering off. He rankled at the treatment but didn't fight it. She had just pulled him out of a discussion about pink flowers with his imaginary friend, so truth be told, he didn't have much of a leg to stand on regarding his ability to look after himself. He did feel justified in plastering on a displeased scowl, though.

Sebastian spoke to the unfamiliar greeter who led them into the quiet back room Ciel was used to and shut the door. Looking shell-shocked, Lizzy let out a low whistle and collapsed onto one of the plush teal cushions. "This place is _something_ , isn't it?" she asked, voice soft, eyes automatically scanning across the large silk hangings.

"That's a nice way to put it," Ciel muttered. He seated himself across from her, eyes snagging on the blue and white vase – _urn_ , he automatically corrected himself. Ciel's eyes traced over the familiar dragon and flowers and he snorted. "Figures," he grumbled, recognizing where he had dreamed up Lau's tattoo and stupid floral shirt. His busted brain must have realized what the urn meant and tried to tell him in the most fucked up way possible.

Sebastian looked down at him curiously and Lizzy had probably said something in response to his mumbling, but Ciel just shook his head and waved them both off. He didn't want to talk about it. Instead, he tore his eyes away from the squat little pot and stared hard at the little pink flower bush against the wall, ignoring the imaginary figure standing next to it.

Music blared briefly as the door opened to admit Ran Mao, fading away just as quickly as she closed it behind her. "Good timing. I just solved your problem." Her little frog-buttoned dress was deep green today; otherwise she looked exactly the same as she had the last time they visited. She tilted her head at Lizzy, who stared back silently. After a tense moment when no introductions were offered, she shrugged and reached for Sebastian's hand.

"We actually have a different question today," he explained as he gracefully sidestepped her contact. With his unmarked hand, he retrieved the bullet from his pocket and extended it to the witch.

She cocked her head to the other side and leaned down until her nose was almost touching it, beaded braids swinging at the motion. Sebastian patiently kept his hand extended and perfectly still to allow her examination. She prodded it with a fingertip, knocking it onto its side, and declared, "It's a bullet."

Ciel rolled his eyes. "Thank god we brought it to an expert," he stage whispered to Lizzy.

Ran Mao ignored him. He genuinely did not know if she was being professional or just didn't care. Completely unfazed by Ciel's rudeness, she lifted the metal between two fingers and wiggled it around the watch it sparkle before setting it on the table. "We need tea," she announced and turned to the small bar in the corner.

Ciel eyed her, but didn't argue. He had embarrassed himself around the strange woman enough to realize she knew what she was doing no matter how weird things looked. Lizzy shifted uncomfortably, eyes latched onto Ran Mao as if waiting for an alien to pop out of her chest. Ciel barely wondered why when faux-Lau coughed something that sounded like "Tai-Lee" in response. His eyes widened in understanding and he nudged her knee under the table with his foot. Once he had her attention, he mouthed, "Act _natural_." Lizzy looked surprised at getting called out, but she nodded and immediately put on a slightly over-done air of disinterest. It was better than her open suspicion, though, so Ciel decided not to complain. It's not like Ran Mao knew Lizzy well enough to tell anyway.

The Chinese woman returned to the table with a plain black teapot on a painted tray. Ciel blinked at the single large white cup next to it, but held his peace. They'd see what she was up to soon enough. Whatever she was brewing smelled delicious; a rich, spicy aroma flooded the room when she pulled off the lid and succinctly plopped the little bullet in. She watched it for a second and returned the lid. Ran Mao sat perfectly still, hands on her thighs, as she waited for … something.

Innately curious creature that he was, Sebastian bent double over Ciel, face hovering closer to the pot than was necessarily a good idea. Ran Mao didn't stop him though, so Ciel just rolled his eyes at the vampire's antics and secretly thought him to be an overgrown child. He did get the pleasure of seeing Sebastian jerk back like a startled cat when the pot abruptly flipped from black to white.

"What –?" Lizzy gasped.

Ran Mao gracefully lifted it and poured its contents into the cup in a high arc of water. The bullet clattered harshly against the china, making Ciel wince and hope it didn't break anything. Something felt … off. He couldn't put his finger on it. He looked up at Sebastian, who was staring into the white cup with interest, then over to Lizzy. Her mouth worked like she was struggling whether or not to say something. Eventually, she asked, "What happened to the tea?"

Ciel's brows flew into his hairline and his head whipped back to the cup and its clear contents. _That's what was wrong: the tea disappeared!_ The long stream of water had been just that – _water_. There was no scent or color to it.

Ran Mao, however, was frowning at the pot, not the cup. She peeked inside and tapped the handle with her fingertip, one lip stuck out in a displeased pout. "Magic gone."

"The metal drained the magic?" Sebastian asked, thinking of the star blade.

She shook her head. "Not drained, _gone_. It _destroyed_ the magic," she explained carefully like there was a difference.

"Well, we knew that, didn't we?" Lizzy asked, looking between Ciel and Sebastian. "It reacted most violently to Sebastian, like a normal bullet to me, and only hurt Ciel when Sebastian's magic tried to help."

Ciel rolled his eyes. _Thanks for blurting it all out there, Liz_. He was glad Ran Mao already knew about their weird connection and could probably figure out why they wanted to know about a magic-killing bullet all on her own.

Ran Mao listened to Lizzy's explanation patiently before turning to Sebastian and demanding, "Show."

He shrugged out of his jacket and pulled off his button up, leaving him in a plain black tee. He knelt on the floor next to Ciel and in front of Ran Mao and pushed up his sleeve a little to show off his only scar. She stared at it in rapt fascination, leaning in to rub her thumbs over it, nose practically touching as it had with the bullet. The tip of her tiny pink tongue darted out to taste it, prompting Ciel to grump, "Is that _really_ necessary?"

She sat back on her heels, spared a glance at his black star, and stared up into Sebastian's face. "The scar is fine; your _mofa_ is the problem. We should fix you."

Sebastian smoothly shrugged back into his shirt and buttoned it. "Not right now. We need to take care of the man who uses those bullets first."

Her warm brown eyes flicked over to Ciel. "Can he wait? He is even more damaged than last time."

Ciel bristled a bit at being called 'damaged.' "I got _shot_ , lady. Without our connection, I'd just be dead."

Ran Mao inexplicably turned to look at the pink flowers behind Lizzy. For a wild moment Ciel thought she could see Lau too, then realized he must have been unconsciously staring like he was yesterday. Unlike Sebastian, she simply nodded at whatever she saw on his face. "Don't wait too long."

 _Why not? Is it time-sensitive? Is there only so much damage you can repair?_ Ciel had a hundred questions he wanted to ask and none of the courage to do it. They couldn't do it now anyway, so it was probably best not to know. "I need some air. I'll be outside." Lizzy moved to follow him and he shook his head. He just wanted to be alone for a moment. He would normally stay and wring all the information he could from Ran Mao but there was a good chance he wouldn't remember it anyway, so he felt no guilt in leaving them to it.

Cold air nipped at his cheeks as soon as he stepped outside and he felt like it wiped his mind clean. He took a few deep breaths, watching his exhales steam as he released them. The world was so white and fresh with pristine snow and early morning light. Few cars passed and he could barely hear Kong-Rong's music leeching out as the leaned against the building. Today's selection was an energetic violin soloist that really wasn't too bad except for the volume they insisted on playing everything at. It was strangely peaceful and made him doubt the severity of everything going on in his life.

Ciel rolled his head to the right, unsurprised to see Lau mimicking his pose against the wall. "Nothing earth-shattering to share?"

"Nope," the illusionary man said, popping the P. He looked straight ahead, eyes closed.

Ciel turned his own eyes back to the distant trees. "Good." He wasn't in a mood to talk anyway. Confront Chamber, deal with Redmond, fix his fucked up head, live happily ever after. It was a simple plan and he held onto it tightly.

 _Just make it through today_ , he told himself. _Stick to the plan. Fix your shit. And afterward …_ he trailed off, trying to think of what he would do. The only thing that came to mind was Sebastian. He didn't have a job or family, he just had Sebastian and he was curious to see how things would go. Before this newest mess started, the man had practically said he loved him and Ciel found that he was strangely okay with it. He wrapped his arms around himself unconsciously and fought down a school girl smile. It felt nice to be loved.

"Ciel," that familiar deep voice rumbled from off to his left. Ciel's head whipped around to find Sebastian smiling down at him and hoped his stupid face hadn't given away what he was thinking about.

"Ready to go?" he asked, straightening up.

Sebastian shook his head, long hair waving slightly with the motion. "No, I think you should stay here."

"What!" He turned to face the vampire head-on. "I'm not going to hide while you two take all the risk."

Sebastian tilted his head in what at any other time would be an endearing fashion – but right now was seriously annoying. "Love, it's not safe for you. Stay here and get fixed."

Ciel scowled. "No. You _need_ me. As the only one who can't die, I'd say I'm currently the most important member of this team."

Sebastian looked sad at that, reaching a hand out halfway. "But you _can_ die – and it will hurt you further."

Ciel took a careful step back to stay out of reach, worrying that if Sebastian held him, he might give in. "No," he repeated stubbornly. "It will hurt me far less than it would either of you. I promise I will let Ran Mao fix me first thing once we're done with Redmond, but not a minute before." He stared Sebastian down until the vampire nodded, disagreement clear on his face. Ciel turned away, leaning back against the wall to stare into the distance. "Go get Lizzy and let's get on with it, then," he ordered. He frowned when there was no response and looked back over to find that Sebastian had already gone without a sound. _Hate it when he does that_.

Ciel waited so long that he started to get annoyed, suspecting that the vampire was dragging his heels to punish him in some way. He understood Sebastian's worry and on some level appreciated it – but damn it, he wanted to help. He wasn't a total invalid. Ciel was about to go in and drag them out himself when the door opened and loud music flowed out.

"Ciel!" Lizzy said brightly, smiling.

He glanced up at Sebastian, who had a strangely pleasant look on his face, all traces of disapproval gone. "Ready?"

"Took you long enough," Ciel grumbled, pushing off the wall and making his way back to the SUV. He saw a look of light confusion of Lizzy's face when he pulled the rear passenger door open and felt a smug smile tugging his lips. Of course Sebastian hadn't shared his Make-Ciel-Stay-At-Home plan with her; Lizzy would undoubtedly have taken Ciel's side after seeing how vehemently she fought to keep herself from being excluded.

"Alright, now to our place to arm up," Sebastian announced once they were all settled, probably out of consideration for Ciel's shoddy memory. The Were waved him off disinterestedly and looked out the window. "I normally don't advocate the use of firearms, but in this case, I think they would be prudent," Sebastian explained to Lizzy, who had taken Ciel's previous seat up front.

"I've never actually shot a gun before," she admitted uncertainly.

"That's alright, I'm sure Ciel would be happy to show you," Sebastian assured her with a smile, trying to meet Ciel's gaze in the mirror.

Ciel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure, though hopefully you won't need to use one at all." Sebastian started informing Lizzy about Ciel's proficiency and trying to drag him into it but Ciel was done listening to the vampire's cheerful chatter, which was clearly an attempt at making nice. He laid down on the bench seat facing the back and muttered, "I'm going to sleep; try not to crash," knowing that Sebastian could hear him. Ciel didn't sleep, really. It was too hard to turn his mind off but it was a good excuse not to join the conversation and he felt it appropriately displayed his displeasure at Sebastian's attempt to leave him behind.

Sebastian and Lizzy chatted easily for the hour or so it took to get back to his cabin and Ciel's "nap" had actually calmed him down a bit. He realized Sebastian was only trying to protect him. He may have gone about it the wrong way, but Ciel couldn't hold a grudge for honest concern. When the car rolled to a stop, he got himself up and stretched semi-convincingly. Sebastian probably knew he hadn't really been asleep but didn't call him out on it, for which Ciel was vaguely thankful. He even crawled out the door behind Sebastian, letting his physical proximity act as an olive branch for their not-quite-spat.

The vampire put a hand on his arm and leaned down to whisper, "Okay?" Ciel nodded and gave a slight smile to show that he was done being moody. Sebastian smiled brightly, making Ciel question why he was ever displeased with the creature to begin with.

Ciel unlocked the door and led them inside, where Lau sat comfortably on the couch. He might have jumped a bit at the unexpected reappearance of his friendly neighborhood head spook but got over it quickly, directing the others to wait while he gathered his things. Lizzy migrated off to the kitchen and Lau followed him into the bedroom.

"So are we going to talk now?" he asked without looking back.

"Probably," Lau answered.

"Why wouldn't we?" Sebastian asked, making Ciel turn to look in surprise. He didn't realize the vampire had followed him, too.

"Gonna bell you," he muttered, moving things aside in his closet to reach his little gun safe.

Sebastian chuckled. "So you weren't talking to me?"

"No," Ciel admitted.

"Obviously not," Lau added.

"But we can if you want," Ciel finished, doing his best to ignore Lau as always.

"No reason to," Sebastian noted, leaning against the far wall, arms crossed. "You've made your choice."

"He disagrees," Lau pointed out, unnecessarily.

"Yes, thank you," Ciel said to them both, a touch of irritation poking through. He rubbed at his forehead, the struggle of jugging two separate conversations at once making his brain ache. _Gun. Ammo. Spare gun. Spare ammo. Going to let Lizzy hold the small one. Holsters? There they are._ He scooped up his pile of supplies and sat them on the bed for a better look.

"I don't want to upset you –" Sebastian started

"Better not start then," Lau advised, lounging on the bed and looking intently at what Ciel was doing.

"– but I really wish you'd reconsider," Sebastian finished predictably.

Ciel hummed in acknowledgement, checking that the clips were full, chambers were empty, and safeties were on. He had a spare clip for each gun and after a brief debate decided to bring the boxes of ammo as well. He didn't foresee a protracted firefight that would require them to reload, but better to have and not need than need and not have.

"You're not well," the vampire said gently.

"That's what I've been saying for _ages_ ," Lau pointed out. "Not that anyone listens to me.

"I don't care," Ciel snapped at the both of them, eyes bouncing back and forth to drive his point home. Sebastian looked worried and Ciel almost kicked himself for paying so much attention to Lau while trying to convince Sebastian he was fine. No wonder the vampire didn't believe him. Pointedly turning so he wouldn't be tempted to look at Lau, he gave Sebastian his full attention. "I can do this, Sebastian. I swear." He held out a hand so show how steady it was. "See? I'm fine."

The vampire looked at him sadly. "I do see. I just disagree."

Ciel huffed and turned back to his guns, stuffing each one into its respective holster and putting everything else into a small nylon bag for easy carrying. "Fortunately, it's not up to – you," he finished lamely when he looked up to see that Sebastian had already stepped out.

"He left," Lau stated.

Ciel sighed. "Thanks, Captain Obvious." He picked up his toys and followed the sound of Lizzy's voice to the dining room. She was looking at their suspect sheets and from the twitching in her hand, fighting the urge to make new ones for Redmond and Chamber.

"Don't bother. They won't be a problem for long," he advised, dumping his armload onto the table. "It's rude to leave in the middle of a conversation," he said to Sebastian, immediately picking up his little .22 and explaining how to take it out of the holster to Lizzy so that the vampire wouldn't have time to argue. He gave her a quick run-though of how to flip the safety on and off as well as aiming and firing. "We don't have time for target practice right now, so just line these little nubs up with what you want to shoot, hold it as far away from your body as possible, and squeeze tightly to fire. Don't let it jump out of your hand." She looked up at him with uncomfortably wide eyes and nodded.

"Ciel," Sebastian started.

"Actually, I think it would be a good idea to let her fire it a few times before we head out," the Were interrupted. "Five minutes won't make a difference one way or the other. Wait here," he instructed Sebastian, gesturing Lizzy to the door.

"Are you two fighting?" she asked softly as soon as they were outside, unaware the vampire could probably still hear them.

Ciel led her further away from the house and didn't bother lowering his voice. "Not really. Small difference of opinion. We're good." He helped her position her feet into the proper stance and hold the gun correctly. "Watch your thumbs – this top part is going to slide back when you fire. There you go. Flick the safety off, line it up … and squeeze when you're ready."

Lizzy took a deep breath, stared hard at a distant tree, and pulled the trigger, jumping in shock at the loud bang and hard kick.

"Don't drop it!" he reminded her. She immediately fixed her hold. "Good. Fire until the clip runs out and I'll show you how to reload it in the car." He watched her unload the little clip in the general direction of some trees, jumping up and down when she hit something. "Yeah, I saw, saw," he assured her like he would a happy kid. "Keep going until it clicks. Good job." He patted her on the shoulder and Lau smiled faintly from her other side, not that she could see him. Motion caught his attention and he turned back to the house to see Sebastian walking toward them in his shirtsleeves, even less affected by the cold than they were. "Why don't you take that back inside? I'll be in in a minute."

She looked toward the house and back at him. "Are you okay?" she whispered with concern.

He waved her off. "Tch, yeah. Might as well get this out of the way before we're all trapped in a car together."

Her brows drew together, but she nodded and offered an unsure, "Okay, if you say so. Holler if you need me," before going back inside. Sebastian smiled and stepped aside to make room as she passed him on the path.

"Round three," Lau muttered, eyes still firmly closed. Ciel didn't respond. He stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Lau and folded his arms, lifting a brow as he waited for Sebastian to say his piece.

The vampire sighed. "I know you don't want to hear this again –"

"But he's going to say it anyway," Lau interjected.

"So I'm going to start with the most important part: I love you."

Blood rushed to Ciel's cheeks at that. "You …?"

Sebastian smiled, fangs poking out a bit. "You know I do." The tension in Ciel's shoulders faded a bit. "You are the most important thing in my life and I can't bear the thought of hurting you any more than I already have. Our connection is tearing you apart."

"Just go inside," Lau advised, arms folded in his sleeves.

Ciel's gaze darted briefly to him before returning to Sebastian. Some of the coldness had left his expression at Sebastian's admission; it was exactly what he wanted to hear after all. "I understand. It doesn't change anything, but I do appreciate your concern and … I love you, too," he admitted to his feet, unable to look up. Lau let out a put-upon sigh, prompting Ciel to glance over at him. The barest sliver of brown irises met his as Lau shook his head. Frowning, Ciel looked from Lau to Sebastian, who was grinning like a fool. He offered his own small half smile and said, "Let's just get on the road already so we can knock this out and live the rest of our lives, yeah?"

Sebastian nodded and opened his arms for a hug.

"You won't like it," Lau warned, looking intently at Ciel, eyes now fully open.

"Would you shut up?" Ciel hissed at him, irritated by the constant interruptions.

"Yes, do stop spoiling the moment," Sebastian requested, glaring at Lau.

Ciel shot him a thankful glance before all the blood drained from his face. His eyes shot back to Lau's steady amber gaze in horrified realization. Lau cocked his head in a semi-apology before saying, "I did warn you."

Ciel whipped back around to Sebastian only to find him gone. The Were's heart beat in his throat and he fought the urge to vomit. Had that all been a hallucination? Had Sebastian ever even come back in the first place or had he imagined the whole thing? Panicking, he sat down in the snow and held his head in his hands. "What's going on?" he asked no one.

"Who could say?" Lau answered unhelpfully from above him.

"Ciel?" Sebastian's concerned voice intruded. He looked up with raw, stinging eyes to see Sebastian marching down the path, long coat flowing around him like a cape. Too confused to answer, he simply stared as the larger man crunched through the ice and snow to kneel in front of him. Warm hands wrapped around his cold ones and Sebastian's familiar scent filled his nose.

"Sebastian?" he asked hopefully. He squeezed the vampire's fingers, wondering what he had been holding to get so warm.

"That's right. What's wrong, love?" he asked, face full of concern. "You're sitting in the snow."

Ciel laughed, sniffing back tears of relief. "Believe it or not, I noticed that," he shared. "I don't want to talk about it. Can we just go do this so I can get fixed?"

Drawing his own conclusions, Sebastian nodded and helped Ciel to his feet without further comment.

The car was already loaded and Lizzy sat in the back, waiting for Ciel. She gave him a weak smile when he joined her but didn't push about what had happened. Ciel would take it. He occupied himself by showing her how to reload the clip and talking about shooting. Now that she'd actually fired one, she seemed less afraid of the guns though she still wasn't looking forward to using them. When they lapsed into silence, she pulled out a little bag of markers and some paper on a clipboard to pass the time by doodling.

Ciel turned to look out the window, mind racing. There was no guarantee that Edgar Redmond would be at his uncle's house when they arrived, but he was certain Aleistor would have a way of contacting him. One way or another, things would be resolved today.

His melodramatic inner musings were interrupted by Lizzy's sudden, "Hey! What happened to my black marker?"

"Sebastian did it."


	12. The House on Druitt Hill

Civility had gone out the window the moment Aleistor Chamber realized he was dealing with inhumans. Not even Sebastian's sweetest crooning of the man's name could get him to open the door.

"This is ridiculous," Ciel stated. Raising his voice, he called, "You live in a glass house, moron. We saw you in there. Open this door before we huff and puff and walk in through your easily breakable wall."

There was a brief shuffle and the door cracked open one scant inch. "Savages," Aleistor hissed, one icy blue eye visible in the crack. "You're not welcome here. Go away."

Sebastian pushed the door open so Ciel could stride in. "Love to," the Were said. "Unfortunately, we have some business with your nephew."

Lizzy followed him in, grinning broadly at the look of abject shock on Aleistor's face. "Yep. Surprise!" she announced brightly, throwing her hands up in faux-excitement. The overly dramatic man stumbled back to collapse on the deacon's bench by the door with one hand to his chest. Sebastian stepped inside himself, closing the door and completing their semicircle around Chamber.

"Is he here or do you need to call him?" Ciel asked, not bothering with pleasantries.

"I – what? I don't know what you're talking about," Chamber stammered. "Who?"

"Edgar Redmond," Sebastian supplied helpfully. "The man behind all these murders."

Chamber's eyes went wide and he laughed nervously. "N-no, you must be mistaken. They already caught the killers. Edgar wasn't one of them."

"Did they?" Lizzy asked, face artfully puzzled. "Because I don't remember ever seeing that in the news."

Sebastian grinned savagely. "Miss Elizabeth has a point, _Aleistor_." The vampire filed his name into a sarcastic point, making the other man squirm uncomfortably. "One wonders how you knew about the fate of your nephew's conspirators if you were not involved. The Grey Wolves certainly didn't issue a press release about their capture and execution of two Were-hunters."

Aleistor swallowed uncomfortably, looking from face to face and realizing that he was well and truly boned. "I didn't know what he was doing."

"Bullshit," Lizzy snapped shortly, making him flinch.

"I swear! I … I _suspected_ , of course," he trailed off uncertainly, fidgeting. It looked like he was trying to draw himself into as small of a space as possible in an attempt to disappear. The universe was not so kind. "I didn't want to know so I tried not to think about it. He would tell me when to make myself scarce; I just did what he said."

Ciel snorted. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. You knew your nephew was _murdering_ people and your defense is 'I tried not to think about it?'"

Still scrunched up uncomfortably tightly, Aleistor found enough fire to glare. "I didn't do anything wrong. Edgar would suggest I go out on a date, so I would go out on a date. That's not a crime."

"Criminal stupidity, maybe," Ciel muttered.

"And I'm sure Edgar came up with his targets all on his own?" Sebastian asked sweetly.

Ciel's eyes widened at the implication. "You," he said with budding horror. "You told him who to kill, didn't you? You sold him his victims." He really should have realized it on his own. It _felt_ like a connection he should have made. Hell, it might have been one he'd made a hundred times before for all he knew, but he really couldn't remember.

Aleistor squeaked, trying to find the words to defend himself. "N-now, h-hold on a second." He lifted both hands in front of him defensively as if afraid one of them would start swinging. From the look on Lizzy's face, he should be afraid. "I never told him to do anything. _Never_. I swear on my life."

Sebastian chuckled darkly.

"You may not have told him to do it, but you gave him those names knowing what would happen," Lizzy accused.

"Please don't hurt me!" Aleistor shouted, ducking his head and covering it with his arms.

Ciel could make out the vague sound of … sniffling? He huffed in disgust and rolled his eyes. He called the man's name a few times and nudged his leg with a foot to no effect. The human was apparently done being cooperative for the day. "Sebastian," he stated, trusting the vampire to understand his unspoken _Do something about this_ request.

Sebastian nodded and flickered out of sight for a moment, returning almost instantly with an unfamiliar white phone. His thumbs blurred over the screen. Sebastian nodded once to himself in satisfaction before summarily bonking Aleistor over the head and walking off with his limp body.

Ciel blinked after him. "The fuck?" he whispered, not understanding what had just happened.

"I think he just summoned Redmond using Chamber's phone," Lizzy explained, typing away on her own device.

"Did he just … murder him?" Ciel asked, pointing weakly at the hall Sebastian had disappeared down.

"Not yet," the vampire answered, returning promptly. "Merely tucked him out of the way for now."

Ciel looked at his companions curiously. Sebastian leaned back against a wall with his arms folded and eyes closed, likely stretching out his senses in preparation for Redmond's arrival. Lizzy finished tapping on her own phone and sat down in one of the white leather chairs to relax. She fidgeted a bit, clearly uncomfortable with the newness of the holster in her waistband, but seemed to work things out quickly enough. Lau lounged comfortably along the couch, unconcerned.

Ciel did an inconspicuous look-around for faux-Sebastian, puzzled when he didn't see the other hallucination hanging around. He was glad, of course, but confused. Why had faux-Sebastian even shown up in the first place and what was his function? Ciel had come to the conclusion that Lau acted a visual representation of the forgotten thoughts his fragmented mind was trying to communicate to him. Or something like that. If so, what was the Sebastian hallucination? He slid his eyes over to Lau. The Chinese man was staring at the ceiling with his eyes closed, being absolutely no help whatsoever. Typical.

"So… who did you text?" he asked Lizzy to fill the silence.

She jumped at the sudden noise and gave a little laugh at herself. "What makes you think I was texting?" she asked playfully.

Ciel shuffled over to the other white chair and perched on one edge. He gave a shrug. "Just looked like you were."

"That's because I was," she agreed unhelpfully, eyes sparkling with amusement.

Ciel snorted. "Glad to know not all of my observational skills have gone to shit. It brings us back to my original question, though: who were you texting?"

Lizzy grinned. "Guess."

The Were arched a brow and looked over at Sebastian, who was still resting against the wall with his eyes closed. "Well, clearly not me or Sebastian."

"Clearly."

He squinted at her. "I know you don't have a boyfriend."

"Oh, you do, do you?" she teased.

He blinked a few times in confusion. "Do you?"

She huffed a laugh. "No."

Ciel rolled his eyes. "Thus I repeat my earlier statement: You don't have a boyfriend." He was silent for a long minute. The rusty gears in his head ground so loudly he could practically hear them. At last, he had to admit defeat. "I don't know. From your attitude, it's something I should know but …" he shrugged, "I just don't."

She reached over and patted him on the knee. "It's okay, sweetie. We're going to deal with Redmond and get you all fixed up."

Lizzy hadn't answered his question but he supposed it didn't matter anyway. Not like he'd be able to remember it later if she did. Ciel huffed out a frustrated breath and flopped back into his seat. "I really shouldn't have died so many times," he groused.

"Yeah … but it's not like you went looking to do it, right?" Lizzy asked.

He shook his head. "No, not really. There are a lot of times I could have been more careful, though, especially at work. I took too many risks because I knew I wouldn't die – most of them unnecessary."

"Like going to Lau's alone," Sebastian said, showing that he was paying attention.

Ciel rolled his eyes. "Yeah. I should have waited for you, happy?"

"Or fighting that wolf."

Ciel gave him a dirty look. "The wolf started it."

"Or taking that bullet for me."

"That's the only one I _don't_ regret. You would have died if I hadn't."

"Aww," Lizzy drawled. "Twue wuv."

Ciel rolled his eyes for the hundredth time that day but didn't argue the point, which by Ciel standards was pretty much an admission. "I know that we are waiting for Redmond, but what am I supposed to do again?" he asked the floor.

"Just watch our backs," Lizzy reminded him. "Sebastian will do most of the talking-slash-fighting. I'll back him up; you back me up. Try not to draw attention to yourself."

"But …" he felt like he should be objecting to this for some reason. Maybe because he couldn't die? But he really didn't want to do that again, did he? He could barely remember the plan, much come up with a coherent argument against it so he let it go with a shrug of his shoulders. He just had to trust his friends on this one. Even if he did forget what Lizzy just told him, he trusted that he'd instinctively back her up.

"You'll do fine," she assured him with another pat.

The overhead lights went out abruptly, leaving the space illuminated by only the late afternoon light coming in from outside. Before he could even ask, Sebastian announced, "That was me. No sense helping the enemy out."

Ciel quirked a brow but didn't question it. They had no idea what abilities Edgar Redmond possessed, though Sebastian seemed to think it was only super speed for some reason. Either way, the dim light didn't really affect them so he didn't bother commenting.

 _You're just back up,_ he reminded himself. _Watch Lizzy; stay out of the way._ He held onto the thought, willing himself not to lose it. He didn't know how long he spent chanting those sentences to himself, but eventually Sebastian interrupted their silence to announce, "Someone's coming."

"Is it –?" Lizzy started.

"Wait, it's two someones," Sebastian corrected himself with a note of surprise, speaking over her. His brows drew together and he frowned at the floor. "No – three."

Ciel blinked stupidly. Three? He watched Sebastian glare at the floor but the vampire didn't add any more to his tally. Three it was, then. Would Sebastian and Lizzy's plan (whatever it was) work on three, though? He watched the two of them put their heads together and whisper, not risking their plans by speaking too loudly in case Redmond & Company possessed enhanced hearing.

The living room was declared too open due to its windows on three sides, so Ciel was herded into the kitchen, where he crouched behind an island with Lizzy. Sebastian pressed himself flat against the archway leading in, prepared to reach out and grab the first person to enter – who as it turned out was an unfamiliar young man with half-white, half-black hair. The stranger whipped into the kitchen at a quick, though still human, speed. The young man had just long enough to squeak in surprise before Sebastian wrenched his head completely around and tossed his corpse into the middle of the floor. Lizzy muffled a scream behind her hand when it landed near her bent knee. "Watch that and make sure it doesn't get back up," the vampire ordered as he returned to his post. Lizzy nodded, wide eyes fixated on the dead man.

"Ronnie!" an unfamiliar voice shouted.

A series of thumps and thuds followed the footsteps of another man entering the kitchen. After a few seconds, Ciel peeked over the island to see Sebastian grappling with a large, pale man holding some kind of bladed weapon. He was just as tall as the vampire and almost twice as wide. One half of his white hair was braided into cornrows, the other was long and free. He glanced to his right to find Lizzy in the same position he was, only holding her gun and watching intently, as if waiting for an opening. He grabbed her arm and shook his head, eyes flying open wide when she swung around to face him, gun and all. Ciel instinctively threw up his hands and was about to tell her to watch where she pointed that thing when it went off.

Ciel collapsed face down, practically in Lizzy's lap. He could hear shouting, but none of it made any sense through the loud buzzing in his ears. He could have sworn he heard a car for some reason, but what little he could make out through his mottled vision showed kitchen tiles. He was so going to chew Lizzy out when he woke up.

The numb throbbing in his chest progressed to aching and stabbing, then finally _burning_ when he was rolled over. His whole body felt red hot. He was on fire and whoever was screaming bloody murder wasn't helping things.

"Shh, shh, shh," Sebastian hissed like a snake, face invading his line of sight. Ciel would have swatted at the idiot if he could move. _Go fight the bad guys, or something_ , he ordered silently. _And make the shouting stop._ Ciel screwed his eyes closed and wished this dying part would finish soon so he could get back to the fight. _My head's going to be so fucked when I wake up_ , he thought randomly between pants and screams _– Oh, so I'm the one screaming._ As soon as he realized that, he stopped. Or tried to. He honestly had no idea what was going on as everything seemed to have faded to fuzzy gray. His vision wavered and he thought he saw Death staring down at him before he blacked out completely.

Things seemed … wrong when he woke up.

The first thing Ciel noticed was that everything was tender and awful. He slowly lifted a hand and felt at his chest. Frowning at the untorn cloth beneath his fingers, he looked down to see his shirt was whole, no rips or tears anywhere on it … which didn't make sense because Lizzy had shot him. Confused, he looked around for her.

The second thing he noticed was the Lizzy's face was wrong. Well, not just her face; everything. It was all too soft and smooth and dark. The overhead lights were on now, but everything was still so _dim_ and _blurry_. He rubbed his eyes, feeling nothing wrong there, either.

Thirdly, _Ran Mao_ of all people was leaning over him curiously.

"What. The. Fuck." He spat each word with equal emphasis. He really hoped his fucked up brain hadn't given Lau an annoying playmate, because if he had to deal with two irritatingly evasive assholes, he was out.

"Ciel!" Lizzy shouted, springing forward to squeeze him.

"What-the-fuck," he wheezed again quickly, crushed to her chest. After enough squirming, she finally released him and Ciel leaned back on his elbows, still on the floor, to glare at her. "You don't get to hug me; you _shot_ me!"

She tilted her head and blinked. "I didn't shoot you."

Ciel lifted a brow and looked around for moral support. He found three corpses, one possible hallucination, and Lizzy's earnest face. "Where's Sebastian?" Lizzy put a consoling hand on his shoulder and Ran Mao looked away, worried. "What?" he spat, when neither one of them spoke, anxiety fraying his nerves.

"Um, there was a … complication," Lizzy began hesitantly.

Dread punched Ciel in the gut. "No."

"Ciel, I'm so sorry –"

"No!" he shouted, pushing to his feet with great effort. It felt like his entire body was made of lead. Lizzy stood with him, keeping a steadying grip on his arm and constantly trying to speak to him in a soothing tone. He was having none of it. He marched right over to Ran Mao and barked, "What did you do to Sebastian!?" not caring whether or not she was real.

She looked at him calmly, their eyes almost perfectly level. "I fixed you." She looked a little concerned, but not sorry in the least.

Ciel screamed an ugly sound in her face and shoved her hard, mildly surprised when she stumbled back into a wall. Her big brown eyes widened slightly at his attack.

"Ciel, no!" Lizzy shouted, pulling him back by one arm. "Don't hurt her! She helped."

Ciel looked between them, honestly surprised to find he wasn't hallucinating again. His face darkened again when the thought passed. "Oh, is that what we're calling it now? She killed Sebastian!" he snarled, ferocity hampered slightly by the fact something felt wrong with his throat. He fought the urge to clear it. That witch bitch had been itching to 'fix' him practically since they met and she'd finally done it – probably by hitting Sebastian with a sucker punch while he was down to end their connection by removing one half of the equation. He glared murderously.

Lizzy's jaw dropped and she rushed to explain, "He's not dead!"

Ciel froze. Only his eyes slid to look at her, body still tensed to jump Ran Mao. His heart gave a hopeful thump in his chest and he dared to ask, "He's not?"

" _No!_ " she assured him hurriedly. "God, no. I'm so sorry, I should have said that first. There was a complication, but he's _alive_ – you're both alive." She was practically babbling at this point so Ciel stopped listening. He gave Ran Mao the dirtiest of looks, still not trusting her.

"What did you do?" He made the question feel like an accusation.

Ran Mao blinked at him, expression unreadable, and held her silence long enough to make Ciel wonder if she was punishing him for shoving her. "I used your bullet to destroy the magic in this area." He furrowed his brows at that vague explanation. Yeah, she definitely punishing him.

"What?" he finally asked, too confused to let it slide. "You used a single bullet to … what?"

Ran Mao rolled her eyes as if he was being intentionally difficult. "I worked a spell using your magic-destroying bullet as a catalyst. It sucked all the magic out of everything for, oh, easily a few kilometers." She waved a dismissive hand to convey that the exact details of it didn't matter.

Ciel felt like he was missing something. For once it wasn't the vague fuzziness of having _forgotten_ anything (in fact, his mind felt clearer than it had in years), he was just convinced there was some bigger picture he hadn't fully grasped yet. "And this has to do with Sebastian how?" he asked slowly.

Lizzy tugged his hand, leading him into the living room. The floor was level but he had the odd sensation of walking uphill; a normal activity that took just a little more energy than it should. His shoulders relaxed at the sight of Sebastian, all thoughts of his personal fatigue fleeing his mind at the sight of the other man sprawled out on the sofa. He knelt down at the vampire's head and offered a quiet, "Hey." The man's chest rose and fell, but he didn't respond. It was almost like he was … "Sleeping?" Ciel said the word aloud incredulously. He looked up at Lizzy who nodded and held a finger to her lips to warn him to be quiet. Ciel stared back down uncomprehendingly. "But Sebastian doesn't _sleep_ ," he murmured quietly.

"He does now," Lizzy responded just as softly. She gestured for him to follow her back into the kitchen where they could talk without risking disturbing him.

Ciel gave Sebastian one long last look, watching him breathe peacefully, dark lashes still on his white cheeks, before following Lizzy. When he reentered the kitchen, he found Ran Mao leaning against the white stone counter with a steaming mug in her hands. He couldn't smell anything and wondered if it was just hot water. Lizzy was standing in front of the island, practically vibrating with excitement. Broken glass, wood, and detritus littered the white floor, accented by vibrant pops of red blood. In the far corner, half under a little breakfast table, were the three washed-out bodies clad in white and spattered with blood. He couldn't make out much beyond basic shapes and features despite squinting at them. Eventually he gave up. It didn't matter. He could tell well enough who they were.

"Explain," he demanded simply, folding his arms and leaning against the stainless steel fridge.

The women exchanged looks and Ran Mao gestured for Lizzy to do the honors. "Okay, so we called Redmond on Aleistor Chamber's phone, knocked him out –"

"Yes, yes," Ciel interrupted her impatiently. "I remember all that. Skip to the part where you shot me."

She huffed indignantly. "Again, I did _not_ shoot you. Redmond snuck in through the other door and shot you in the back; I shot Redmond." She frowned the frown of the wrongfully accused, pouting silently until Ciel muttered an apology. "Right, so Sebastian killed the black-and-white-haired guy," she explained, pointing vaguely to the bodies behind her, "Redmond shot you, I shot Redmond, and Ran Mao showed up to save the day by stunning that big buff guy and finishing off Redmond."

He stared openly at the little Chinese woman, trying to see how such a small person could take down one and a half people that a _vampire_ struggled with.

"Magic," she explained with a shrug, sipping her tea.

"Yeah," Ciel drawled slowly. "I'm gonna need a little more than that."

She sighed and twisted to set the cup down behind her. "Sebastian and Lizzy left your bullet with me this morning, hoping I could find some way guard against it or at the very least to nullify its magic-destroying effect." He blinked, not remembering any of that _at all_ , but supposed it must have happened while he was outside. "Lizzy texted me when Redmond was on the way. I hadn't solved your problem, but I had come up with an alternate solution: I could make it do the opposite. Rather than remove its ability to destroy magic, I could increase it."

Ciel stared with open interest. This was by far the most he'd ever heard Ran Mao speak in one go and it was fascinating. He didn't know much about magic, but she made it sound like he could understand it. Ciel nodded to keep her talking.

"I rushed over and arrived just after you got shot." She fidgeted a bit. "Fortunately I checked before setting it off or …" she shook her head. "Anyway, I used some of my stored spells to stun the big man and heal you," she flicked one of the bells tied into her intricate braids, "then I set off the spell I worked into the bullet."

"And?" he prompted eagerly when she paused. He found himself leaning in in anticipation.

Ran Mao shrugged and picked her tea back up. "And it destroyed all magic in this area."

His eyes flicked to Lizzy and found her still smiling. "Okay? But how does that help anything?"

The blonde bounced up and down. "Well, without their super speed and whatever else, the White Wraiths were just humans. Redmond had already been shot and Ran Mao hit the big guy from behind before he even saw her coming. We stabbed them once everyone's magic was gone."

Ciel nodded, then froze. "Wait, what about Sebastian?"

Lizzy gave him a pointed look. " _Um, hello, magic?_ He passed out as soon as the anti-magic bomb detonated."

Ran Mao nodded her agreement. "Thus why I healed you _before_ using it." She frowned slightly, fingering some of her beads and sighing. "They're all useless now."

"But he's okay, right?" Ciel asked worriedly. Surely he wouldn't still be breathing if he were dead.

Lizzy nodded emphatically. "Totally. He's just adjusting to his life as a human."

"A …" Ciel trailed off stupidly. He cleared his throat and tried again. "A human?"

"Yeah," she said pointedly. "Vampires are like one hundred percent magic, remember? Without magic, they're just …" she trailed off leadingly.

"Humans," Ciel breathed. _Holy shit_. "But I thought … I mean, with how vampires are made," he stammered awkwardly. "He died," Ciel blurted. "Without magic, shouldn't he just be dead?"

"Don't know," Ran Mao said disinterestedly, looking a little bored. Ciel's gaze hardened on her a bit.

Lizzy chewed on a fingernail. "Well, not necessarily, right? Like, I mean, look at you. You said the vampire virus or whatever heals you and _then_ turns you, so wouldn't he technically have been a perfectly fine human right before that last push?"

Ciel stared at her, once again in awe of her deductive capabilities. That made perfect sense. "Lizzy, you genius," he muttered, provoking a megawatt smile from her. "So I guess that means I'm fixed, too?"

"Obviously," she said with a playful scoff, grinning ear-to-ear.

He eyed her for a long second before an idea fully percolated. Fighting down his mounting anxiety, he asked as calmly as possible, "Wait. By 'fixed' you mean –"

"Yep!" she chirped happily, once again bouncing in excitement. Ran Mao gave a calmer nod.

Dark blue eyes wide, Ciel _pushed_ , trying to force himself into his animal spirit. Nothing happened. No tingling, no stretching, not even a glimmer of transition. It was _gone._ He tried again and again, an edge of panic worrying at his mind. "I can't change."

"Magic destroyed," Ran Mao reminded him simply.

"But, if I leave, if I go home … I could do it there, right?" he asked stubbornly.

She shook her head, magic-less bells and charms tinkling. "Magic _destroyed_ ," she repeated with emphasis.

Ciel was silent for a long few minutes as he processed that. No more changing form, no more animal spirit. No more rapid healing or enhanced senses. No more connection to Sebastian and unlimited do-overs. He was … human. Just plain _human_. He'd never been human before and it was a little scary. Furthermore: Lizzy was human. He snuck a glance at the blonde girl, who aside from a tinge of worry about his prolonged silence, was clearly ecstatic with the whole situation. She'd gotten her wish. 

And Sebastian!

He blinked a few times as that thought tried to work its big fat way through his mind. Sebastian was human. No more zipping around at high speeds, showing off with impossible feats of strength, or draining the local populace. Well, the last part wasn't all bad. Sebastian would just be a normal guy. Admittedly, a stupidly handsome, impossibly experienced normal guy, but one who aged and slept and got injured and needed to eat. He found himself ducking his head around the corner to watch the other man sleep. It was an odd sight and it made him feel vaguely protective.

Chewing on his lip, Ciel finally decided that he could handle this. Hell, he'd spent the past few decades _wishing_ he could grow old again anyway, what did it matter if he had to do it as a human so long as Sebastian was with him?

Nodding, he returned to the kitchen. "Okay. Okay," he repeated as if the whole situation needed his approval or something.

"Yeah?" Lizzy asked, concern flittering away to leave only raw excitement.

He smiled slightly at her. "Yeah. And hey – you can finally go home!" Technically, she could have gone home at any point; only her own self-imposed Not While I'm a Monster rule kept her from doing so.

"I know!" she practically cheered. "I can't wait to see mom and dad and Ed!"

Ciel looked over at Ran Mao, who was gently washing out the little kettle and cup. Her face was calm as always but he wondered if that was how she really felt. "Hey," he said a little more neutrally, "When that magic-killing spell went off, you were in here, too."

Lizzy gasped, face suddenly falling. "Oh no, Ran Mao! Your magic!"

Ran Mao quirked the corner of one lip. "I'm fine."

"But, it's gone. You gave it up for us!" Lizzy insisted. "I'm so sorry."

The Chinese woman shook her head. "I'm not like you. I am not magic myself; I only use it. It is a resource, an element. Earth, air, fire, water, aether. As soon as I leave this place, I will be able to access it again."

Ciel breathed a sigh of relief for her. She had really saved their skins and he hated the thought that she might have sacrificed herself to do it, murderer or not. His face fell into an impassive mask at that thought. "Lizzy, can we …?" He bobbed his head to indicate speaking in the other room.

Ran Mao finished wiping down the pot and cup. "I was actually about to go."

"No," Ciel said quickly. "Please, it will only take a second."

She blinked her liquid brown eyes at him curiously, but nodded and rested her hip on the counter to wait. Lizzy looked between them, obviously confused, and followed him out into the room with Sebastian.

"I want to ask her about Tai-Lee," Ciel whispered.

Lizzy gasped and slapped a hand to her mouth, hissing between her fingers, "Oh my God, I forgot about that." She nervously looked back at the kitchen and its hidden occupant. "What are we going to do?"

Ciel sighed and ran a hand down his face. "I don't know. She did help us, but I'm like ninety-percent certain she also killed that girl. This is the only time we're going to have the advantage on her, so I want to talk. We might be weak little humans, but at least she can't use magic on us."

Lizzy nodded, chewing her lip. She sighed out a huge breath. "Yeah, okay."

Ran Mao quirked a black brow at them upon their return, clearly sensing something was up. Ciel took a deep breath and said, "Look, we really appreciate your help today but there's something I need to know." She tilted her head silently at his statement, which he took as encouragement to keep going. "Did you kill Tai-Lee?" he asked bluntly.

She breathed out, shoulders slumping a bit. "Yes," she stated simply.

The two ex-Weres exchanged a look, not expecting that answer. "Why?" Ciel asked calmly, sticking to their straight-forward approach. Everyone was being strangely civil about this for some reason and he didn't want to rock the boat.

"She killed Lau."

Ciel's eyebrows climbed into his hair. "She … killed Lau?" he repeated. Ran Mao nodded, eyes locked onto his as if begging for his understanding. "I thought his death was an accident."

The small woman shook her head, folding her arms across her torso in a sad self-hug. "No accident, poison." Neither Ciel or Lizzy argued, so she offered, "Tai-Lee had been poisoning him for months. It finally made him too weak to walk, which is why he fell and died."

"But … why?" Lizzy asked, looking sympathetic.

"Why did she do it? Money. She thought he would leave Kong-Rong to her." She lifted a dainty shoulder, looking away. "And he might have, if he hadn't died so suddenly. He already had a will, though, which left it to his family in China."

"And you?" Lizzy added. "Why did you kill her?"

Ran Mao frowned, words harsh with emotion when she explained, "She killed Lau; she didn't deserve to live."

"You loved him," Lizzy said softly, taking a tentative step forward.

Ran Mao's face was angled down, but Ciel could see the shimmering wetness of tears edging toward her chin. One dangled, threatening to fall onto her dark green dress. Ciel was struck by a sudden thought when he looked at the faint leafy pattern on it. "The flowers," he blurted, making Ran Mao's head snap up.

"That's right," she said, surprised. "How did you know?"

"What flowers?" Lizzy asked, looking between them.

"The pink flowers at the shop. They were on Lau's shirt – er, urn," Ciel explained, rubbing at his neck.

Ran Mao nodded. "I painted them there as part of his story."

"I'm sorry, what? I still don't get it."

"Oleander," Ran Mao explained. "Every part of it is toxic. Tai-Lee snuck it into his tea."

Lizzy looked disgusted. "That's messed up."

Ran Mao tilted her head in acknowledgement. The three regarded each other in silence. Eventually, she asked, "What now?"

Ciel closed his eyes and sighed, rubbing at one with his finger. "I honestly don't know."

Lizzy tugged on the hem of her blouse, folding the fabric between her fingers. "Well, we did just get rid of a murderous cult," she hedged. "Who's to say one of them didn't kill Tai-Lee?"

Ciel looked from her to Ran Mao, who was nervously picking at her nails. She really did deserve a second chance after everything she had done for them. "You're not going to make this into a habit or anything if we look the other way, are you?" he asked. She shook her head quickly, expression hopeful. "Then I say it's a good thing we stopped Redmond when we did. Sorry for what he did to your friend."

Ran Mao smiled shyly.


	13. Epilogue

Sebastian took to the change much better than Ciel had expected. After however-many-hudreds-of-years, this seemed like the perfect Last Great Adventure for the eternally bored creature – er, man, as Ciel supposed he now was. Sebastian had trouble remembering that fact as well. He still frequently looked at Ciel like he wanted to eat him, only to trail off into a confused expression when he remembered he couldn't.

It was one of the many challenges of being human.

A loud _clang_ came from the kitchen followed by a deafening round of cursing that sounded vaguely Italian. Ciel rushed in to find Sebastian hunched over the sink, running his reddened hand under cold water, their dinner scattered across the floor.

"You forgot the oven mitt again, didn't you?" Ciel asked needlessly, already pushing the pieces of glass and vegetables into a pile with his booted foot.

Sebastian snarled something Ciel didn't need to understand to know was rude. He rolled his eyes reached for the broom. "We have a pizza in the freezer," he suggested, knowing it was unlikely Sebastian would be willing to cook anything again right now. The ex-vampire stayed sulkily silent, glaring at his hand as if the flesh had betrayed him. Ciel finished cleaning and stuck the pizza in the still-hot oven, knowing that Sebastian still wasn't used to the idea of eating multiple times a day and would likely forget. "How is it?" he asked, leaning around the taller man's shoulder.

"Not too bad," Sebastian admitted, patting it dry and showing his pink fingers to Ciel. He had remembered almost instantly this time, so it was likely only a second degree burn instead of the horrific double-handed third degree he gave himself the first night that necessitated calling Ran Mao for an emergency healing spell. The little witch had become somewhat of their grudging ally in this endeavor as it was ultimately her fault Sebastian now bled so easily. She had made some rather pointed comments about baby-proofing the house that Ciel was beginning to consider following.

"Do you want me to call Ran Mao?"

Sebastian shook his head, long black hair waving slightly at the motion. "No, I think this one will be alright. I should probably put some cream on it or something?" His certain tone petered out a bit at the end making it somewhat of a question, though Sebastian did an admirable job of pretending to be perfectly in control. He looked to Ciel for agreement with his new warm brown eyes, still a surprising change from their old vampire red. Ciel felt they made him look vulnerable and found it adorable. He smirked and went to fetch the first aid kit without being asked. The poor bastard had absolutely no idea how to be human. Contrary to his continued know-it-all attitude, Sebastian was practically a worried little kid in regards to physical wellbeing – especially his own. He suddenly had first-hand experience with how fragile living things are and Ciel secretly thought it scared him a little. _Good. It might keep him alive long enough to grow old._

He still babied the man, though.

Sex was an area where they both struggled a bit, though Ciel still found immense amusement in it most of the time.

"Ow!"

"What do you mean, 'ow?' You've never said it like that before," Sebastian demanded intently.

"I used to have super healing. Slow your ass down before you tear something."

"Ew, what is this? What's happening? Am I sweating? Why am I sweating? How do I stop it?"

"Calm down, it's normal."

A minute later: "Something's wrong! My legs are weak. I can't keep going! Why am I tired?"

Ciel laughed. "Because your muscles need time to recover. Roll over, stupid. Let me take over for a bit and stop freaking out."

"I think something's _really_ wrong now," Sebastian insisted frantically a few minutes later. "Why won't it come back up?"

"That needs to rest, too."

Sebastian frowned disapprovingly down at his flaccid junk. "This is not fair at all."

Ciel cackled. "Finally, I'll be able to get some damn sleep around here."

Sebastian popped him with a pillow. "Brat." He still gathered the smaller man up into his arms and held him. It turned out sleeping together (just sleeping) was actually nice.

Ciel hadn't seen Lau since he became human. After a few weeks, he even stopped looking. His cognitive functions were back to normal as well, so it seemed like magic really was at the root of whatever problem he had had. Sebastian had oodles of theories about what had happened and why; Ciel really didn't care so long as the problem stayed fixed. He _had_ considered getting one of the Grey Wolves to bite him so he could have his animal spirit back, but there was no telling if the reintroduction of magic to his system would trigger his old problem, so he ultimately decided to stay human. As a show of solidarity, Sebastian did too.

Lizzy, meanwhile, had returned home to Quebec. She was excited to reunite with her family after her years of 'teenage rebellion' had worn off. She sent Ciel and Sebastian near-constant updates on social media.

All in all, everything seemed to have a happy ending.

One thing did still bug him though.

"Hey Sebastian," Ciel said randomly one day while they ate at the Lodge. Mouth full, the ex-vampire looked up and tilted his head to show his attention. "Where do you think those guys got their magic from?" The ex-vampire shrugged. "I mean, they were a bunch of supernatural-hating hunters who were actively _destroying_ magic. So why were they using it themselves and how'd they even get it in the first place?"

Sebastian looked pensive as he neatly wiped his face and washed his lunch down with water. "I hadn't thought about it to be honest," he admitted. They had killed the leader and no one else had shown up looking for anyone. It had been a solid month of peace.

Ciel's brows scrunched together and he turned to frown out the window. Everything was going so smoothly that it was starting to make him nervous.

"You don't think," Sebastian said softly, "Ran Mao …"

Ciel waved him off quickly. "Definitely not. From the sound of things, she hated Chamber for how he treated her people and wouldn't have had anything to do with others like him."

Sebastian hummed, his own mind churning. "Now that you mention it, they would have needed someone to make those strange weapons, too.

Ciel stared hard at his reflection in the sunny window. He could barely make out the faint star-shaped scar in his eye. It was visible all the time now, a ghost of the connection that had affected him for so many decades. "Yeah," he agreed absently. The more he thought about it, the stranger he found it that no one had come to follow up about Redmond or his cronies. Surely whoever trained and supplied them had to know what they were doing and would recognize what sudden radio silence meant?

"Maybe we should … leave?" Sebastian suggested lightly. "I mean, I do have houses all over the world. We could take a mini-vacation of sorts."

Ciel snorted. "A vacation from retirement?"

"Well, it just sounds stupid when you say it like that," Sebastian huffed jokingly. The two grinned at each other. "Seriously, though. What's holding you here now?"

Ciel lifted his dark gray brows in a little flick of acknowledgement. He was no longer running from an unknown illness, chasing a serial killer, or protecting a friend. He just felt … frozen, like he was waiting for something. "Maybe," he said aloud, letting his hesitation color it heavily.

Sebastian patted his hand understandingly. "No rush." Ciel nodded and looked down at Sebastian's marked hand where it rested on top of his own. The intricate black star had faded and blurred a bit, like an old tattoo, some of the finer lines and sigils already too far gone to see. Sebastian nudged him to get his attention back. "Hey, that's the mortician."

Ciel glanced over to see a man dressed in all black at bar. The stranger wore a long, swishy coat that was too heavy for the early spring weather and had beaded braids tangled in his excessively long white hair. He seemed vaguely familiar. "Have we met him before?"

Sebastian hummed. "Sort of? I saw him when I broke into the hospital. I don't know if you've ever met him."

The mortician chatted with Max at the bar, laughing heartily at a joke. Once the big man returned to the kitchen to cook, the white-haired one swiveled around on his stool to take in the room. Ciel gasped as chartreuse eyes swept over them and the stranger smiled broadly, wiggling a single finger at him in greeting. Ciel ducked his head and hissed, "I've seen him before."

Sebastian twisted to look at him again, then back to Ciel, wondering what the big deal was. "I would assume so. It's a rather small town, after all."

 _Small town_ , Lau's voice echoed tauntingly in Ciel's head, making the ex-Were shake it vigorously to knock the memory away. "No, I mean …." There was no way to say this without sounding crazy, so he just blurted it out. "He was there the last time I died, when Ran Mao destroyed everyone's magic."

Sebastian blinked and turned to examine the man again in a new light, only to find him gone.

"My _ears_ are burning," a dry voice sing-songed from their other side. Ciel jumped when the mortician yanked out a free chair and settled himself at their table. "Aw, don't be nervous. Old Undertaker doesn't bite. Much." He smiled with a mouth full of slightly too-pointy teeth. This close, Ciel could make out the sheen of faint white scars all over his pale skin. One cut clean across his face, another ringed his neck as if he'd been beheaded and stitched back together.

Ever the polite one, Sebastian faked a smile and offered, "Nice to meet you. I'm Sebastian; this is Ciel." Ciel kicked him under the table and gave him a dirty look for sharing their names. Sebastian shrugged at him. It's not as if it would have taken the stranger long to find them out on his own.

Undertaker laughed, looking at Ciel, "My, you're a feisty one, aren't you?" He lifted one spidery hand in a mock-pledge. "I swear I mean you no harm. Anymore."

Ciel narrowed his eyes. "Anymore?"

Undertaker chuckled. "Anymore," he agreed.

"You were at Chamber's house last month," Ciel accused, not bothering with subtlety.

Undertaker nodded, beaded hair clacking. "I was," he said unhelpfully. For the second time that day, Ciel was forcefully reminded of Lau and he didn't like it. "Oh-ho, would you look at that _face_ ," Undertaker chortled. "Deadly!"

Ciel folded his arms tightly and glared. Sebastian squeezed his elbow in support before taking over. "Not that this isn't entertaining, but did you want something?"

The pale man smirked, lips an almost bloodless white against his skin. He looked more like a cadaver than a living person. "Cutting right to it, then? Fine. If we must." He leaned both elbows on the table, putting his face uncomfortably close to his companions'. "I overheard your conversation and wanted to let you know that no one is going to come looking for revenge."

Ciel eyed him up and down. "You were behind the White Wraiths?"

"O-o-oh, 'White Wraiths'? I like that." Undertaker wiggled happily in his seat. "Much better than what I came up with." Sebastian cleared his throat, pinning the other man to his seat with a pointed look of disapproval, perfected over centuries of practice. "Oh, alright, you stick in the mud. Bah! To answer your question, yes and no."

"That doesn't answer anything at all!" Ciel complained.

"Mm, well, I don't owe you answers, do I?" Undertaker snapped testily and leaned back in his chair, his amused air flipping instantly to disdainful disinterest. The other two stared dumbly at the sudden shift.

"Are you insane?" Ciel whispered, earning his own kick from Sebastian under the table. Accusing people of insanity generally didn't result in cooperation.

"What he means is," Sebastian interjected smoothly, "please go on."

Undertaker _snerk_ -ed and turned back to face them. "You two really are entertaining. Alright, fair's fair; you made me laugh so I'll tell you." Gone was the offended persona and back was the amused one. It made Ciel's head spin. "I was training Redmond to follow in my footsteps. How was I to know the little bugger would run off and start a cult?"

"You were training him to be a … mortician?" Ciel asked uncomprehendingly.

Undertaker flapped his hands. "No, no, of course not. I was training him for the other thing." When both humans tilted their heads at him, he sighed and explained, "The _Grim Reaper_ thing."

Ciel flinched back, eyes wide. "The _what_ thing?"

"Oh, honestly, what do you think happens when supernatural creatures die?" he asked like this was somehow the obvious answer.

"So when I saw you …"

"You were dying, as in dead-dead," Undertaker explained. "If that witch girl hadn't acted so fast with whatever she did, you'd have been in The Great Beyond. Or wherever dead people go," he added breezily. "You'll have to tell me your story some time; I bet it's fascinating with players like her."

"Um, excuse me, but isn't it your job to know what happens after people die?" Sebastian asked disbelievingly.

Undertaker let out a full belly laugh at that. "Oh, goodness me, no. I just collect and dispatch you all off to the place that sorts you. I'm semi-retired as it is, not that there's much to do out here in the first place." He paused thoughtfully and added in an undertone, "Well, there wasn't anyway, until that damned apprentice went rogue. Then my ledgers started blowing up again." He grumbled a bit.

Ciel frowned. "So, you knew what he was doing all along and you didn't, I don't know, _stop him_?"

Undertaker waved him off. "Not in my job description. Though technically I wasn't supposed to train him in the first place, either …" he admitted, scratching his scarred neck briefly, "but it was rather entertaining while it lasted. All that running around," fond sigh, "it was just like the good old days."

Yep. Insane. Definitely glue-eating insane.

" _Any_ -way," the mortician sing-songed. "Like I said, I just wanted to let you know that there are no more 'White Wraiths' as you call them – unless he made one I don't know about," Undertaker added in an undertone before shrugging and continuing at a normal volume, " – so you should feel free to go about living your little lives. I couldn't help but notice they look much _shorter_ than when I first saw you," he said, pointedly eyeing each of them, "but I'm sure it's part of that story I want to hear."

Ciel and Sebastian exchanged glances.

"Order up!" Max bellowed from the bar, placing an oversized to-go bag on the counter.

"Maybe some other time then," Undertaker suggested, walking off to claim his food. Ciel watched him go dumbly, still rather shocked by it all.

"Well, that was … interesting," Sebastian said to break the silence.

Ciel huffed a laugh. "No shit. If our lives weren't so weird, that would have easily been the strangest thing that's ever happened to me." Sebastian smirked at him and Ciel felt the ice inside him melt away. He was finally free. No pack, no job, no debilitating illness looming on the horizon. He could go anywhere and do anything and Sebastian would be right beside him.

Their lives may be limited now, but it suddenly felt like he had all the time in the world.

 

 

* * *

**The End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading and commenting. I love hearing from you guys! ^_^
> 
>  
> 
> Come visit me on tumblr: <https://darkmattertea.tumblr.com/>  
> 


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